Emmett's Confession
by caughtforCarlisle
Summary: Emmett deliberately defies his father. Carlisle has had enough. What will happen when Carlisle asks him to leave the Cullen house. He and Rose leaves and when a band of rogue vampires decide to have a little 'brutal' fun with the runaways, Carlisle has to take control...that is until another band steps in. Carlisle/Emmett.
1. Chapter 1 A Talk With Mama

Disclaimer: There are references to spanking of teenage vampires. If this is not your thing, bye-bye! All rights belong to Stephenie Meyers.

A/N: I am still working on Breaking the Rules, my baby, but I decided to do a quick little three chapter story while I get my thoughts together for the next chapter. This story was going to be a one shot but I changed my mind. It will be very short though; however, I do have an idea for a longer Emlisle story once I complete BTR that is unrelated to this story. Hope you enjoy. Please Review.

Esme's POV

It was a cloudy Saturday evening, and I was quietly reviewing some plans for the new greenhouse I was designing when I heard a faint rap at my door. The time was five o'clock in the evening. Carlisle had called yesterday and informed me that he would be working until seven a.m. in the ER because one of his colleagues had a family emergency and had called out. He'd gone to a medical conference this morning at ten and would be there until around seven p.m. The poor dear...that meeting was already scheduled before he knew he would be working all night! Of course, my darling Carlisle wouldn't cancel, and though he didn't need sleep, I could only guess that he must be mentally exhausted. Luckily, he and I had shared some _quality_ time Wednesday night. I missed him terribly.

To my surprise, the scent that greeted me was that of my son Emmett…my Emmy as I affectionately called him. Carlisle hated when I called him that…said it made him too soft…I thought it was rather cute. Emmett didn't seem to mind it coming from me, but if one of his brothers called him that, he went berserk. Besides, who was Carlisle to talk anyway! He loves those grown boys...his _babies_! I smiled to myself.

There was another faint rap. _This is strange. Usually Emmett bangs on the door or just barges in. It's not like him to "barely" knock. _I shrugged it off, thinking that his behavior may have had something to do with that lecture Carlisle gave him about destroying the fence in the back yard.

"Emmett, come in baby." I said in a normal, but nervous tone. I was curious as to what could be bothering him since he had announced himself so politely this time. Emmett gently opened the door…another oddity…and quietly walked in. I wondered if this had anything to do with the recent news involving some rogue vampires. I wasted no time. "Is something wrong, Em?"

He stopped at the door and just as gently as he opened it, he closed the door behind him. He didn't bother moving away from the door, but stood with his back against it with his curly head bowed.

"Em?" I asked, really worried now. "What's the matter, baby?" With vampire speed I approached him. I stood in front of him and reached out to stroke his muscular arms. Emmett seemed almost bashful…or at least embarrassed about something. "Hmmm? What's on your mind?"

I still assumed that this had something to do with his father, otherwise he would have gone straight to Carlisle if he had a serious problem. He and Carlisle were very close, like real father and son, and he normally didn't hesitate to rely on Carlisle's wisdom and guidance when he needed it. Usually he came to me when he and his dad were fighting about something, or when he needed advice about Rose…or even Alice. This seemed a little different though. Something was definitely troubling him.

He stalled a moment longer and finally he spoke in another unusual voice. Whispering he said, "Mom, I have a problem."

_I figured that much._ My big bear needed me to help him resolve something that he felt he couldn't resolve with Rose or Carlisle.

"Okay, dear. You can talk to me. Tell me about it." I gently encouraged, lifting his boyish face so that I could look into his eyes. They were sad, guilt-ridden.

He began to fidget, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He started wringing his hands together, and looked up at the ceiling then back down at me.

"Mama, I kinda…"

He paused.

"….I…"

He paused again and inhaled deeply. He was extremely nervous.

"….Whew!"

He exhaled.

"…Mom I need to tell you something, but you gotta promise not to tell Dad. Please."

_Oh boy! This is going to be a big one. He's going to tell me something that I can't share with my dear Carlisle…Ugh! I don't know about this._

" Sure thing Emmy, but in light of everything that has being going on lately with those vampire attacks, you have to know that if you or either of your siblings are in danger, Dad needs to know." I wanted him to know that I wouldn't go along with anything that put him or my other children in harm's way. "Carlisle would be devastated if that were the case and we didn't tell him."

He inhaled and exhaled again, still fidgeting. "No, no, Mama. It's nothin' like that. It's…it's that…um…Mama I lied to Dad about something."

He quickly lowered his topaz eyes to the floor, but not quickly enough for me to avoid seeing the tears that threaten to spill from them. I stroked his arms again.

"Okay, baby, tell me what happened." I politely requested. I was becoming more and more anxious for the boy. According to Carlisle, lying to _us_ was an intolerable offense. He felt like we had a fair, open-door policy, and that there was absolutely no reason why any of our children couldn't come to us or be truthful with us. The kids all knew that if they were ever caught lying to _us_, they would be in serious trouble.

"I was supposed to stay home last night, but he said I could go hunting if I needed to. I called him at work and told him that I would be hunting, but I went somewhere else first." He spoke softly. I lifted his head again, but it was extremely difficult for him to maintain eye contact with me.

Instead of going shopping with us in Port Angeles yesterday, Emmett had informed me that Carlisle was upset with him for damaging the fence, and that he needed to stay home to fix it. When I called later to check on him, he had also told _me_ that he was going hunting. That meant if he'd lied to his father, he'd also lied to me. Trying to contain my own irritation, I patiently urged him to continue his confession. "Where did you go, baby?"

"I…I…went to a…club…and…I…I…" Emmett was desperately trying to push out the words. He was embarrassed by his misdeed, and somewhat unsure as to how I would react.

"A club?" I asked, trying to understand my child's predicament.

"Yes Ma'am." He replied sheepishly. That thick curly hair gave him such a child-like appearance. He was acting like a child who'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar. "After I went hunting."

"What kind of club?"

The "night life" was certainly not foreign to my vampire-children. They loved going out and partying. Of course they all had curfews…mostly for appearances sake, but also because we were just a little old-fashioned. We felt that too much exposure to that lifestyle was unhealthy for them. As their parents, that was our call. They often objected, but they were always given two choices: concede or stay home. They always obliged our request, and rarely broke curfew. In lieu of this, if Emmett had to lie to his father about going to a club, that would have meant that he seriously made Carlisle upset with him. Carlisle never denied their fun unless he had good cause.

"Just a bar, Mama."

"A bar?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

I was confused. "Emmy, I'm not following."

He sighed. "Mama, I got in trouble with Dad on Wednesday because I used his Mercedes without asking first and some idiot hit it and caused some _minor_ damage. Thursday morning, Dad frigged all out and was mad that I "violated" and "abused" his "second-wife" and told me I would have to get it fixed out of my allowance money. I starting mouthing off at him and he told me I was grounded, saying somethin' about I should thank God for you because otherwise he would give me a good spankin.' He took my phone and all of my cool stuff, and told me that I had to stay in the guest room for the weekend. Well, yesterday after you guys went to Port Angeles, I sorta called and told him that I was going to hunt, but I went out instead. Edward knows because he keeps snooping around in my head and so does Alice cause she's always in the future. They all know…no privacy round here, Mom."

"Hmmm…your father didn't mention anything about this to me." Now _that's _unusual. Carlisle always tells me when he's punishing one of the kids.

_Poor Carlisle! He's had so much on his plate lately…he probably forgot. He certainly would want me to know that he chose grounding over spanking this time…to appease me of course! He didn't say anything Thursday night or Friday morning. _

"So why didn't you tell me about this last night, Emmett? You not only lied to your father, but to me as well."

"I didn't lie to you Mama. I _was _in trouble with Pops and I did go hunting. I'm dead meat if Pops finds out I went to that club."

I shook my head in disbelief. I didn't feel like arguing the difference between stretching and covering up the truth and just flat out lying with my rebellious son. "What do you think you should do, sweetheart?" One thing that I always tried to do as the mother of my five rambunctious children was to help them find their own solution to their problems. Most of the time they already had the answers, but they just needed me to listen.

"I dunno. I wanna tell him and everything, but, Mama, honestly I don't wanna get in trouble with him again."

"Do you think you deserve to be in trouble, Emmett?"

"Yes, Ma'am, but Dad is gonna bust my tail if he finds out. I know he will."

As much as I hated to agree with him, I knew that there was truth in his words. Carlisle Cullen, the love of my life…father of my children…well respected, prestigious physician...definitely had a primitive view of child-rearing and discipline. He believed that if you spare the rod, you'll spoil the child. Most of the time we disagreed big time about his methods, but I usually just stepped aside and let him do what he thought was best…not without desperately pleading their cases first though.

The children knew that while he was compassionate, loving, and overall an angel, that he would wear their behinds out if he had to…all of them…both the boys and the girls…well the girls were far and few in between, but they were not exempt. To be honest, those girls probably needed a few more, especially Rosalie, but Carlisle had spoiled them rotten. They usually got away with grounding. To put it frankly, they were usually in more trouble with me than with their father. He was putty in the hands of those royal princesses.

"But you deliberately disobeyed him, Emmy, and you lied to him. If he chooses to whip you, do you think that is fair?" I wanted to help my son understand that he did break the rules, and therefore any punishment he received would be merited.

"No." He stated bluntly. "I don't, Mom."

"And why is that Em?" I asked, seriously trying to follow his lead.

"Because I'm grown, Mama, and he has no right to whip me like a child. I keep tellin' him that!"

"Emmett, sweetheart, what can I say? I agree whole-heartedly with you, but you are _his_ child and he loves you. While I don't agree with his methods of punishment, I cannot block him. He's in charge around here, and he has to make sure that you kids stay in line."

My biggest stance against corporal punishment was that these "children" were really adults trapped in their teenage bodies. Because of this, they would always be subjected to our discipline, and we would be their parents for eternity...unless they decided to leave...perish the thought!. I believed that they should be treated as young adults. Carlisle agreed, but quickly defended his position when they acted like children. He couldn't stand it, and demanded more from them. He was a patient man, but his tolerance for childishness and foolishness was short. He also believed that because they were changed at various phases of development, they could only be trusted to be "adults" for so long. According to him, they would always need guidance and correction.

"I know that Mom, but still…I just dunno what to do."

"Well, baby, I will tell you this. You need to decide what _you_ feel is right to do, and _do_ it. I cannot make that decision for you. I believe you already know what you should do. Your father is a good man, but definitely strict at times and continuing to lie to him will only make things worse for you. Did anything bad happen at the club?"

"No, Ma'am. I only did it to prove that he can't control me, and tell me what to do all the time. I just wanted to get back at him for yelling at me and for grounding me." He confessed as if I was a priest and he just needed release.

"Oh, Emmett, baby. Carlisle loves you. You were punished because you were being disrespectful, not because your father is trying to boss you around. You know how your father feels about that kind of behavior. Deliberately defying his authority is not the way to handle your anger against him."

"I know Mom…"

"Emmett, you have got to learn to control your behavior better, son. We all know how you are, and that you like to have fun, but you need to be respectful when requested of you…especially by me or your Dad."

He looked up at me, saddened by my words. "I knew you would probably take his side."

"I'm on the side of what's right. I love you dearly, baby, but what you did was wrong. If you took his car without his permission and then damaged it, and mouthed off at him, then you should have been grounded. If your father told you to stay in the guest room, then you should have obeyed him. Sneaking out was wrong, Emmett."

I gave him a minute to absorb what I just said. He nodded in agreement, and bowed his head again. He knew I was telling him the truth.

_My poor boy._

"Em, if Carlisle was mistreating you, trust that I would be the _first_ person to defend you…but in this instance I do not feel that way. I want you to feel you can trust me and confide in me about anything Emmy, but I must uphold Carlisle in this one. Now I promised I would not tell him what you've shared with me, and I won't. I seriously want you to think about the seriousness of what you did."

My children were spoiled. I'll own that much. Carlisle and I both could take the blame for that, but they were overall good kids. They usually didn't find themselves in serious trouble, and usually when they did, it was for breaking one of our basic house rules. Emmett and Rose stayed in the most trouble with us, but a few months ago Edward found himself in bad company with his father for showing out terribly at home and school…and that was an understatement. He was in super hot water with Carlisle.

To make a long story short, he landed two days in ISS for helping Bella cheat on a biology test and Carlisle whipped him good for disrespecting us, his principal, and for trying to fight Emmett. Carlisle and I had a terrible brawl about it afterwards, mainly because I felt he hit Edward too hard and humilated him, but we worked out our differences. Emmett had also received a whipping that same night, which I didn't appreciate either, for inciting the fight with Edward in the yard that Carlisle had to break up. Carlisle was pretty disturbed and mentally broken because of his punishment to the boys, and it has taken him a while to fully recover from it. He hates punishing them, but according to him, those are _his _children and he has an obligation to them. I don't like it when he does that to them, but I understand why…a little bit anyway.

"Mama…I'm scared."

"I know baby…" My Emmett…fearless…always looking for a challenge…was scared that his father was going to punish him. Hmmm…

"Dad always seems to hound me about every little thing. I don't wanna whipping."

"Hmmm, are you asking me to try to talk him out of it? I'm not going to do that, Em." I really wanted Emmett to come clean with his father even if it meant he would face dire consequences for his behavior.

"No Mama, I'm not. I guess I will have to face Dad man to man. I just needed you to listen…and keep my secret."

"Your secret is safe in the treasure of my heart, but I'm not done with you yet. We will be having our own discussion about this later."

"But Mama!" He whined like the big baby he was.

"Don't but Mama me, Emmett Cullen. You know better." I said firmly.

He groaned and decided it was best not to push me further. He stepped towards me and hugged me. "Thanks for being here, Mama. I love you."

"I love you more, baby." I squeezed him tightly.

With that he turned and left the room. I knew that he would do the right thing because Carlisle and I had always taught him to be honest. Oh, he would certainly be punished, no doubt about that, but it would be a lessoned learned. I loved my children, but I cannot condone their wrong-doing. Even when Edward was punished so severely for breaking the rules, and I disagreed with Carlisle's decision, I did feel that he needed _some_ form of punishment. I could only hope that my children would eventually mature and become the adults they should be. I would hate to know we had to spend an eternity with five teenagers who refused to grow up!

Author's comments:

I am so glad Esme decided to back Carlisle on this one. She is a true mother, correct? She shows her love and support for her son, but takes a stand for what's right. She knows Emmett was wrong, but encourages him to make his own choice about what he feels is right vs. wrong, even if it means that Carlisle will have to punish him harshly. We all know that Esme hates corporal punishment, but at least she tries to let Carlisle be their father and take care of business when necessary. Well there you have it, chapter one. Let's see what happens when Daddy comes home.

Thanks for your reviews.


	2. Chapter 2 Grand Theft Auto

A/N: Contains reference to spanking. If this is not what you like, please do not read. All rights belong to Stephenie Meyers.

Emmett's POV

_I love you more._

My Mom's loving words kept rewinding in my head. I loved Esme as much as I had loved my real mother, and I was glad that I had spoken to her about my little 'white lie' I was keeping from Dad. Everything she told me was true, and I knew what I needed to do, but…_man!_ I was _not_ looking forward to telling my Dad that I had deliberately threw his authority out the window and lied to him. I just felt so _guilty_ about the whole thing, and besides I wasn't sure if that sneaky little brother of mine would keep his mouth shut! He might not rat me out, but who's to say that Carlisle wouldn't sense something when he was around him?

Carlisle knew Edward better than any of those _precious_ medical journals he reads all the time, _all _of us to be exact, and could read him better than any poker player. He could easily and without effort zone in on his ass and break him down every time! There was _no_ way I was going to leave my fate in Eddie's hands. My Dad would be royally _ticked_ if he had to find out what I'd done from someone other than me.

Esme was right. I already knew that I should go ahead and 'fess up…I had to. I wasn't shocked by her response. I knew that she would tell me all of that stuff because she was Carlisle's right hand. She would uphold whatever he decided…well…_sometimes_ she would. Sometimes she would go head-to-head with him if she felt like he was being unfair to us. A few months back, my sweet mother came outta her shell, and she and Pops had one hell of a boxing match…and from what the streets say, _she_ _won_!

They had been fighting because of my little brother and of course yours truly. Mama was angry…_putting that lightly_…with Dad because he whipped my brother like it was nobody's business…and me too, although mine wasn't _nearly_ as rough as Eddie's was. I actually felt sorry for him because he was in so much pain for almost a whole week! My Dad wore his ass out! I still think there was more to that story though. I felt like everybody was hiding something about that smack down…but who knows! I'm always last to know 'bout what goes on around here.

Esme had been so gentle and nice to me while I was talking to her. She loved me no matter _how_ badly I screwed up. Yeah…I tend to do that on the regular, but it didn't matter to Mom. She had unconditional love for me. Dad did too, but he was usually a lot tougher on me than Mom. He was _constantly_ riding my behind about something or another. I knew that she would make me find my own answers to this little problem with Dad. She fully supported his decision to ground me and was not _about_ to encourage me to continue to lie to him.

About this lying gig…_aw man! Carlisle is going to yank my ass down a few notches._ _What was I thinking? Why was I so stupid?_ It was understood that we have to lie and cover up our tracks all the time being that we _are_ vampires, but one of Carlisle's biggest pet peeves was lying to him or to Esme. That pissed him off and he didn't hesitate to let us know.

Okay, so I admit that I _shouldn't_ have taken Carlisle's Mercedes. I really had planned to have the car back home before he got off of his hunt without a scratch. Even with my scent still lingering in the car, he wouldn't have thought anything about it. That was mainly because we were always in and out of his car in search of something. We rode in it all the time, but he only allowed Esme to drive it because she was the only who drove it with decency. The bottom line was he knew that the rest of us drove with turbo speed and there was no way in _hell_ we were getting behind the wheel of his car. That was _not _open for discussion.

So…to sum it all up…I knew that the car was off limits, but I was bored and wanted to do something different. I went out to the garage to find something to get into, and that's when I spotted the Mercedes parked there. On Wednesday evening, Carlisle went for a hunt and the others had decided to join him. I just wasn't up for it, so I decided to stay home and play with my new X-Box that Edward, Jasper, and my Dad picked out for my birthday a few months ago. Well, I got bored very quickly, so I went outside to see what I could find.

There was something alluring about the fact that his car was forbidden…_untouchable_. Hey what was a day without a challenge? The devil musta been playing with my mind 'cause help me, I sped back into the house, grabbed his keys, and hopped in without a second thought. I tried not to speed out of the yard so that I would not leave skid marks. He would know that I took it for sure then.

Once I got to the main highway, it was all holds off. I pressed my foot to the accelerator and glided with sheer freedom down that highway. That sexy, fine, well-oiled jewel of precision handled that road like butter on a hot biscuit! I soared like an eagle. For a moment, I was no longer in Forks. It was freakin' awesome! I felt a rush of adrenaline just thinking about it.

I musta been driving for at least ten or fifteen minutes before I finally heard that damned beeping noise alerting me that I needed some gas. Of _all_ the times for the blonde doctor to be careless! I had no other choice but to pull over to a local gas station. Why I didn't think to check the gas needle when I got in the car, I don't know.

_Who drives a Mercedes with no gas? Dad never drives his car that low!_

I groaned as I remembered reaching for my wallet and not feeling it in my back pocket. Carlisle would have _killed_ me if he knew I was speeding in his Mercedes and driving without a license! I knew my father kept extra cash in the compartment under the seat…only like fifty bucks, but it was enough for gas. I knew I would have to remember to replace it once I got back home. Since I couldn't pay at the pump, I parked the car at the tank and grudgingly walked at a human pace into the store.

Just my luck, there was a guy in there buying at _least_ twenty scratch-off lottery tickets, and couldn't make up his mind about which one he wanted! I wanted to bite him, but decided he probably wouldn't taste as good as the bear I'd finished off yesterday. I also ended up waiting in line behind a little old lady that was trying to pay for _her_ gas. Of course, I _couldn't_ butt in front of her, so I waited patiently for the cute clerk to call me up.

Yeah, I admit she was gorgeous…had me wondering why she was even working there. Of course, she didn't hold a candle to my Rose…not even close, but for a human, she was _fine!_ She was flirting with me…something that was not at all unusual with us Cullen boys…including my Dad. He _always_ had women salivating over him…no lie. He tries to act cool, like he's ignoring it because of Mom, but I know he secretly likes all of that attention. Eddie told us so once. He said Dad kinda enjoys being the 'eye candy.' One time he had taken us, meaning the boys, bowling…yeah we do bowl all human-like, and there was a woman there bowling with her man. She was ogling Dad like he was the golden prize! He of course didn't even notice, but we did. Thanks to yours truly, he eventually did and I swear the dude blushed…well he came pretty close to it!

My Dad's thinking was _so_ aged, and according to Eddie, he always had Mom on his brain. Admittedly that was gross, but hey I understand that Dad has needs. The rest of us boys definitely didn't hesitate to appreciate the fine work of art with a ball in her hand, but not Dad. He just smiled at her, and kept bowling. I thought for sure that one time I saw her man looking like he wanted to confront Dad. Now, I would have paid good money to see that. Of course Dad would have tried to avoid any kinda brawl, but we would have loved to see him lose control…_just_ a little.

So…the girl at the counter was flirting with me, and I of course released that Cullen charm on her and what's the word…dazzled her. She didn't know what hit her! With a little bit more work, I couldn't have gotten her phone number and possibly more. I smile to myself. _Nah! I've never been a jerk…besides Rose is my gal. She's enough woman! There is no way I could handle another one!_

While the woman tried to weave herself away from my alluring charm, I heard a screeching sound and then a crash. I looked up just in time to see some idiot not paying attention, pulling in too fast, and hit the side of my Dad's car. I remember thinking, "What the hell?" I paid the girl for the gas and quickly went out to the car. I assessed the damage. It was just a dent, but definitely big enough for Carlisle to notice. I knew that there was no way I was going to let this one be called in. Carlisle would blow a fuse, especially if it had to be filed on his insurance and if the cops got involved…_and_ I didn't have a driver's license…not good! I told the guy that it was okay, don't worry about it, pumped the gas, and left.

Okay, so the plan was to get Rose to fix it before Dad noticed, but the problem was that Rose was with Dad. They would all get back at the same time. I was going to send Rose a text, but she left her phone at the house. To make matters worse, the damage was on the side that faced the kitchen door. There was no way my swift-thinking, 300 year-old vampire-father was going to miss that! I knew I was dead!

When I made it back to the house, I parked the car and ran up stairs. I thought about trying to pop the dent out myself, but _quickly _scrapped that idea because I would probably damage the '_diamond'_ worse, and then my butt would surely be jerky! I paced back and forth trying to figure out what do. There was no way I was going to be able to call someone to have it fixed…not enough time. I could hear the sizzle in my backside just thinking about it.

I finally just gave up and accepted the fact that I was not going to be able to repair the car. I did replace the money for the gas though. Later that evening Dad and the others came back from their hunt. I figured it would be best if I just hung out in the house and let my Dad discover the mess on his own and then yell at me. I fled downstairs and turned on the flat screen to the game and tried to act casual, but not without making sure the garage light was off first.

Of course, no one noticed! Not even Dad. Lucky for me, the garage was pitch black. Eddie knew instantly because he was so damn nosy and I don't know how to keep him out of my head as well as the others did. His eyes were wide, and I silently pleaded with him not to tell Dad. He smirked and I knew right then I was going to have to eventually 'fess up or Eddie would blackmail me forever!

Then my sister decided she wanted to let on that she knew, and so did Jazz. He was feeling my nervousness and was starting to 'puke' on everyone. That was the word we Cullen kids used for Jazz's influx of emotions. By then Rose had figured out that something was going on, so we all went outside to the yard to talk out of hearing range of our parents. Luckily Esme and Carlisle had come in and greeted me, as always when they came in, and had already gone upstairs. Judging by the look on Eddie's face, I knew they were going to be busy for a _while_, so I was relieved that Dad would be distracted…at least until the next day.

My brothers ragged me about the trouble I was going to be in once Dad would come downstairs and discover that I'd violated his second-wife. They refused to help me get out of this one…scaredy cats! Jazz wasn't about to get a whipping for me and Eddie's ass was surely having flaming flashbacks. And the girls, even my Rosie, said no way! My ass was a lost cause. Let's just say it was a long, miserable night. I was not able to rest at _all_ while lying on my bed beside Rose. I was so worked up, I couldn't even…you know…when she tried to…well…you know. She couldn't get me to relax, so she eventually gave up.

Carlisle Cullen has always had very keen senses, and was not stupid by any means. He was hip to our devious ways and I was sure as soon as he got to that garage he would notice that dent, even with the garage still dark. I heard my father say goodbye to my Mom, kiss her and whisper he loved her, and exited his room. Carlisle, my favorite Pops, decided that he would leave earlier than usual to go work. Probably because he was thinking he didn't have any gas!

Before I could process Eddie's laughter and register the low "you're in deep shit" comment he sent to me, my father walked down the long hall that led to my room. Eddie's teasing was low, and I was sure if Dad heard him, he would send him a warning for eavesdropping. Mom probably wasn't even listening. I dunno, maybe she was just so used to our constant pestering that she tuned us out or somethin.' My sibs undoubtedly had heard it.

Dad knocked softly on our door, and patiently waited for one of us to answer. Like the chicken I was, I sent Rose to the door. She rolled her eyes, grabbed her robe, and walked quickly to door to greet our father.

"_**Hi Daddy," **_She said. _**"What's up?"**_

He sighed, and put his hands on hips. I kept wondering if he knew. Judging by Eddie's annoying laughter, I had a sneaking suspicion he did. I did remember hearing Eddie barely whisper something like, "Sorry Dad." Carlisle must have gotten on to him for snooping on his thoughts again. Just as gentle and soft spoken as always, he said, _**"Emmett, please come downstairs."**_

Yep, he knew and he was calmly 'pissed!' I knew better than to prolong my butt whipping, so I went downstairs quickly. Rose had given me a sympathetic look before I left the room. When I went downstairs, my Dad was in the kitchen standing with his arms crossed over his chest, legs spread evenly, looking like a condemning Zeus or something. His eyes were two shades darker than normal. I knew my future was bleak.

I didn't speak and just stood there watching him. It wasn't that long ago that I had been in this same predicament with him for egging on a fight with Eddie. There I stood, again, waiting for him to pronounce a similar judgment. He didn't waste any time.

"_**Emmet Cullen, explain." **_

That was all he said. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly he wanted me to explain. I mean, what if he didn't notice the dent and I ignorantly brought it up thinking he knew about it? What if he wanted me to explain _another_ incident? That wouldn't have been unusual since I was _always_ doing something to land my butt in trouble. I had stood there staring at him with questioning eyes. He didn't budge, didn't move his eyes from me…though I dropped mine to the floor, and didn't utter one word. He'd waited for me to continue.

"_**Explain what, Dad?" **_I had decided to play a while, still unsure of what he did or didn't know.

"_**Emmett, I am not up for your foolishness. Now you have a microsecond to answer for yourself before I get my belt."**_

That scared the shit out of me because Carlisle never whipped us with objects. Could he be bluffing? At that time I wasn't sure. Deciding to save my ass, I began my explanation.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this. Wow…what is going to happen to Emmett. Does Daddy really know? What will Emmett Do?

Reviews help me continue. Thanks


	3. Chapter 3 Explanations of A Prodigal Son

A/N: This chapter contains reference to spanking/corporal punishment. If you don't like, don't read. All rights belong to Stephenie Meyers.

Emmett's POV

I finally made it up to my room after talking to Esme. On my way up, I got distracted by Alice and Edward who were playing a stupid game of chess. It made no sense for either one of them to play against each other. The game always ended in a draw. Bella was in Jacksonville, Florida visiting her Mom, so Eddie must have been bored outta his wits and decided to play with her. Rose was doin' her hair and Jazz was playing my X-box. Normally I would have joined him or kicked him off, but I was just not in the mood. Of course my Dad was still at the hospital, stickin' folks I'm sure.

I plopped down on our big fancy bed my Mom had picked out for us. _Actually_ she had Kyle, her good friend, to handcraft it especially for us. She had told him that she wanted it to be pretty, but heavy duty. That was my Mom…always thinkin' about us.

I groaned as I thought about how furious my Dad had been with me. When he threatened to pull off his belt, I knew I had to start fessin' up quickly. I rolled over on my bed and rewound our previous conversation Thursday morning.

"_**Dad, I…"**_

"_**Don't even…think…about lying to me boy."**_

Dad squared his shoulders, and flexed his muscles. My father was in excellent shape, and there was no doubt in my mind that he could beat the crap outta my ass any day. Occasionally, he worked out with me…mostly to bond…you know…to do the man thing. He was constantly teasing me that my muscles were not going to get any bigger, but hey what does he know? I recalled him towering over me, and I could have sworn that he was going to put all that strength training to good use…not that it was the training I worried about. Even though I would _never _own up to it openly, by default he was _Wolverine _and I was _G.I. Joe. _

"_**Dad what do you want me to say?"**_

I was still tryin' not to blow my cover…just in case.

Carlisle exhaled and started rubbing his forehead. He dropped his hands to his hips again and just stood there calmly looking at me, shaking his head. Yeah…Pops created me…chose me to be his second son, but sometimes I wondered if he regretted it. Nah! I knew my Dad _loved _me and wouldn't trade me in for nothin!'

"_**Come here, Emmett."**_

He left one hand on his hip and motioned for me to come to him with his other. I was instantly afraid. No lie. I couldn't read minds like Eddie, but I knew by the tone of his voice he wasn't playing around with me. Why else would he be calling me to him and we were only two feet apart?

I froze. Okay, I was starting to freak out. I couldn't stand getting my ass whipped like I was a kid. Most of the time my Dad ignored me, and let me slide 'cause he knew how I was. Something was telling me that wasn't gonna happen this time.

"_**If I have to call you one more time, Emmett…"**_

Pops was always so damn calm. It was freakin' nerve wrecking! I just wanted him to start yelling and get it over with for crying out loud!

I started moving slowly, but impatience got the best of him. He blurred to me so quick I almost fell down. He was in my face in less than a second. He gripped my elbow and spun me around as if he was 'bout to land a brutal Mike Tyson blow to my ass.

"_**OKAY, Dad. Okay…okay."**_ I wiggled my butt out of his reach. Somehow he was still holding my elbow. _**"I'm sorry, Dad."**_ There was no way that every vampire in the house was not listening to us. I heard my brothers laughing quietly, and a low rumble from Rose. Alice remained quiet, and Esme was humming to herself as always. She was used to me being in trouble with my father about something or another. That didn't faze her at all.

"_**Don't take me for granted, Emmett. I'm not Esme."**_ His voice was so damn _serious_.

"_**I'm sorry, Dad."**_ I apologized again. I was in boiling water. I could already feel my butt burnin.' He pulled me toward the garage and outta the kitchen.

"_**Close the door."**_ He ordered once we were in the garage.

I obeyed and stood there in the dark waiting for him to blow his fuse.

He didn't. He did however reach and pressed the button to let the garage up. He didn't bother turning on the light. He walked out to the yard and called me to him.

"_**Come here."**_

I stalled again at the kitchen door.

"_**Now, Emmett." **_

I sighed and with heavy feet walked out to meet him. When I reached him, I got a perfect look of his face. The sun had begun to rise and there was no mistaking…he _was _going to smack my ass good! He began doing that rolling-his-tongue-in-his-cheek thing that he does when he's thinking or when he is ticked off. He was waiting for me to start owning up to my sin.

"_**I'm waiting Emmett."**_

_Aw what the hell? _I just gave up. _**"Dad, I'm sorry 'bout your car."**_ I said, bowing my head so I didn't have to look at him. _**"I didn't mean for it to get messed up."**_

Carlisle cleared his throat. _**"Your butt is going to be sorry in a minute. Look at me, Emmett."**_

Carlisle's authority put even _more_ fear in my dumb ass. I popped my head right up. _**"Dad…I…really didn't mean it."**_

"_**Emmett, what part of me would you consider to be ignorant, son**_?"

"_**Nothing, Dad."**_

"_**Obviously, there's something."**_

"_**No Dad…nothing."**_

He paused for a second.

"_**Why do you insist on pushing me, son?"**_

"_**I'm not tryin' to do that, Dad."**_

He paused again and rolled his eyes.

"_**Why must you continue to be a pain, Emmett? You're too old for such nonsense. When will you grow up, son?"**_

Again, I just stood there and listened to the same lecture I'd heard a thousand times.

"_**You better thank God above for your mother, Emmett. Just thank God."**_

I mumbled, "Thank you Lord" under my breath. Normal people wouldn't have heard it, but as always, he did. Judging by their laughter, so did my brothers. He balled up his lips…took a deep breath…exhaled…and glared at me.

"_**Emmett, don't play with me."**_

"_**I'm not, Daddy. I-"**_

"_**Emmett…don't…"**_ He shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. _**"…don't you dare go there with me! I am on the verge of wearing you out right now. Stop toying with me! Now tell me what happened to my car."**_

I decided that since he was so pissed, it was not a good idea to push him further by telling him that I got bored and therefore took his _diamond_, so I gave him another version of the truth.

"_**Dad I took your car for a quick ride to town to go buy something for Mom and I-"**_

In a second, he had taken off his belt and was folding it in his hands_. __**"You want to play games, Emmett. Follow me."**_

"_**Dad…I"**_

Okay so maybe I _could _have come up with something better than that. I mean, for Christ's sake, I could have hopped in the jeep to do that! I should have known he wasn't gonna buy that! I just wasn't thinking straight, I guess.

He kept walking towards the woods. I stayed in the garage.

"_**Emmett…Cullen…"**_

He didn't turn around once. Just kept right on walkin,' not even sayin' a word!

"_**Now."**_

I quickly followed him, not wanting to make him madder. We kept walking until we were out of hearing range of the house. I could only assume that my Dad did this to get out of _Mom's _hearing range in case she was _finally _listening. He knew how much she hated when he whipped us. He had not whipped us since the last time he busted me and Eddie's asses for 'showing out' as he calls it. He had hoped it would be a long time before he would have to do that again. Well…he knew it wouldn't be as long for me, but Eddie definitely. He was never going to forget that whippin.' His ass should still be flamin' after that one!

We were walking faster and then he stopped.

"_**Lower your trousers, Emmett."**_

Wow! No warning…no warm-up…no dinner and movie first? Instantly my body began to quiver. Yeah…I admit…I was shakin' like Eddie does when he's in trouble with Dad. I would never tell him that. That little…my little bro would never let me live that down!

"_**Dad, I'm sorry."**_

I hurried up and rattled off my confession.

"_**Dad, I took your car because I got bored while you guys went hunting, and…and…I just wanted something to do. I know it was wrong for me to take it, but I was only gonna take it for a quick spin, but then I realized that I needed to stop for gas. I pulled into the station to get the gas, and some idiot hit the car."**_ I left out the part about not having my wallet, my driver's license, and stealing his money to pay for the gas. No use in givin' the old man a heart attack!

I sat up on my bed now, and flipped on the TV. I shook my head when I remembered thinking if that was really happening…if he was _just _threatening me…he never hits us with objects. My Pops wouldn't hit me with that belt…_would he?_

My quick confession seemed to keep him from striking me with that belt.

"_**Emmett…WH-at?"**_

The way he pronounced the "WH" in the word 'what' in that British accent of his was workin' every nerve in my body.

"_**Dad, I drove the car back home and I was gonna try and fix it, but I couldn't."**_

"_**Emmett Cullen…you left my car damaged and abused in a dark garage thinking I wouldn't notice. WHAT THE HELL, EMMETT?"**_

I nearly crapped blood in my pants when he started yelling at me. It was always something when Carlisle yelled…well not in my world…'cause it happened all the time to me…probably 'cause I could push his buttons like one else in the house could. He _should_ be used to me by now. I braced myself for more.

"_**Dad, I'm sorry."**_

"_**Emmett…don't…"**_ He warned. _**"You know better than to touch my car. It is for this exact reason that I don't allow you kids to drive it. You're too reckless and careless. You think that because you don't have to worry about money, you can do whatever you wish. That goes for all of you. You are all very spoiled and ungrateful, and just plain wasteful at times and act as if you don't appreciate anything. When I was a lad, I would have given anything to have what you have, and if cars had been available, I certainly wouldn't have taken my father's without his permission, and I certainly wouldn't have damaged it!"**_

I was silent. We knew that when my father started lecturing us that it was always better to be quiet and let him get it all out.

"_**And then you just walked away as if you did nothing…"**_ He flung his hands in the air. _**"Oh, for the love of everything holy! How could you do that Emmett?"**_

"_**I didn't walk away, Dad. I was gonna tell you."**_

"_**Exactly when were you going to tell me Emmett?"**_ What was with the British accent? It was confusing the hell outta me!

"_**Today, Dad."**_

"_**Mmm…hmmm…after I saw it?"**_ He rolled his eyes and his voice became softer. _**"Unbelievable."**_

I couldn't say anything. He had me.

"_**Emmett you know what? I am not going to lay a hand on you right now because if I do I will hurt you too badly, and your mother will kill me if I send you to the hospital before school." **_

I chuckled as I remembered stifling a laugh at his joke. Part of me wondered if he would really do it.

"_**But…I tell you what I am going to do…"**_ He moved quickly towards me and got all up in my face. I remained quiet. I knew better than to open my mouth. _**"I'm going to go to work…and you…"**_ He paused again_**. "…you're going to pay for my car. You will not get an allowance from me nor Esme until you fix it, and then maybe you can save up your money for some common sense! I am very disappointed in you Emmett, but I guess that doesn't matter to you either, does it son."**_

"_**But Dad, it was-"**_

"_**Emmett Cullen…be…quiet!" **_

He pursed his lips and I knew he meant business. Carlisle Cullen…founder of our Olympic Coven…strong…fearless…kick-ass, powerful vampire stood before me holdin' himself back, lockin' up his strength to keep from knockin' the hell outta me…_his_ son…_his_ creation. Now _that_ was a sight to see. Not that he didn't have to do that all the time…but still…it was always _so_ cool to watch him get mad. I admit that sometimes I picked at him on purpose just to see him go bonkers on my ass! Not this time though…I kept my lips zipped. Not word one fell out of my big mouth. Don't get me wrong…I'm not _that _brainless. I knew underneath that cover-up was a dangerous vampire who could take me down before I could blink.

"_**I am sick and tired of your rebelliousness. This must stop. Jesus! You're driving me mad, Emmett!"**_ There was that annoying English accent again.

"_**Dad, it's gonna take me forever to pay for that car."**_

"_**Well, that's your problem."**_

"_**That's not fair, Dad."**_

"_**Do I look like I care? **_He looked like he wanted to bite me. _**Would you rather that I whip you instead? I promise it won't be what you're used to. They way you have been getting whipped isn't working, that's for certain, so I will have to change my techniques on you from now on. I'll have to start punishing you like old-school vampires do it."**_

I shivered at that thought_. Hell to the naw!_ I knew that if my Dad was threatenin' to go raw on my ass, it meant that it would be worse than that last whippin' Eddie got for helping Bella cheat and stuff! I knew _exactly _what that meant. _That _meant getting worse whippings…in front of everyone in the house…including Rose and Esme. _That_ meant my Dad would spank me with the strap…which was designed _not_ to break…and wouldn't hold nothin' back…_ain't no way! _None of us have ever been punished like that! That's how _other_ coven leaders punished their folks! Not my Pops…never! My Pops loved me too much to do that do me! Would he really do that?

"_**I'm just sayin' Dad that by the time they get the dent out and paint it, I'm gonna be completely broke!"**_

"_**And?"**_

"_**Dad…"**_

"_**It's done Emmett."**_ He put his belt back on and turned toward the garage to get into his battered vehicle_**. "I'm going to work."**_

"_**Dad…"**_

I raised my arms and then dropped them. I followed him into the garage. We stopped at the driver's door. He was still angry, but calm when he turned around to face me…his bad ass son.

"_**Emmett Cullen…you listen to me now. You will never be able to outsmart me. I always know what you're doing even when you think I don't. Your constant juvenile frolic has got to end, son. You're a grown man, Emmett…act like it. Otherwise, you are not going to like what I will do to you and that's a promise."**_

I lowered my eyes because I couldn't look at him.

"_**Emmett, I saw that dent last night."**_

He smirked, sending shivers of my cold spine.

"_**Yes…son…I saw it…in the dark…with Esme on my mind…when we came home. I just refused to allow my wayward son to disrupt another night for me."**_

That was gross, but I was thanking God Esme distracted him. If she hadn't, he probably would have ripped me last night.

"_**I also notice that the car wasn't parked in the manner in which I left it. I also noticed that I smelled gas when I walked by. Don't think for a second you can ever fool me, Emmett Cullen. I am no fool."**_ He turned to get in his car again.

"_**As if I could. You control everything I do."**_ I grumbled under my breath. I was still angry that he was taking my money away from me for so long. I was also mad that he kept trying to control me like I was some dumb kid. Who the hell did he think he was? He was right. I was a grown man! A grown man who didn't make his own money, but that was beside the point! He had no right to treat me like that!

He turned to face me again. He inched closer to me to so that our faces were like two inches apart. I swallowed, seriously wondering if he was going to pull off his belt again…or make me get the strap. Me and my big mouth!

Barely whispering, yet clearly agitated, he said, _**"And for that comment, you're grounded for the weekend. The entire weekend, starting Friday when you get out of school. You are to come straight home. You will not be allowed anywhere in the house but in the spare bedroom upstairs…you will not go near Rose or to your personal bedroom. I suggest you get your things from your quarters and go upstairs immediately. You will stay there the entire weekend unless you need to hunt, and even then it had better be a quick one...by quick I mean a few hours...and you may only go with Esme not the others. You will not aggravate Edward while you're on the third floor, and if you so much as look at him, I am going to wear you out. Understand?"**_

Now that ticked me off! He knew how much I hated being grounded. I would rather get a whippin.' And on the weekend…and keeping me from Rose and everybody else! No X-Box…no TV…no nothin!' That was some old bullshit! That was so unfair. I wanted to growl at him so bad, but decided I didn't want to be plastered to the floor, so I held it in.

I opened my mouth to protest but he stopped me. _**"One word and we're going inside."**_

I felt venom stingin' my eyes. I was pissed, and there was nothing I could do about it. He'd won. He'd had the final say. I just stood there silently watching him, wisely keepin' my trap shut. He knew I was mad.

"_**You ought to be grateful that I am not punishing you worse for your indiscretion. Now get inside, and get dressed for school." **_When I didn't move he looked at me like he was checkin' me out…to see what I was gonna do. I wasn't gonna do nothin,' but he was just making sure.

I humbly bowed my head and in a low voice said, _**"Yes, Sir," **_and turned towards the kitchen.

"_**Oh and Emmett…"**_

I stopped and turned to face him, lookin' at him with angry tears in my eyes.

"_**You can also leave your phone and any other electronic devices you have on my desk in my study. They better be there when I get home."**_

"_**Yes, Sir." **_

I knew better than to argue so I went in the kitchen and though I didn't want to, kept myself from slamming the door. My parents didn't like that either, mainly because they saw it as being disrespectful, and when we did, we usually ended up taking the doors off the hinges.

I heard him leave, and I went straight to my room. When I got there, Rose saw that I was still mad and left me alone. She knew I would fill her in later. I knew then that there was no way I was staying in the house the entire weekend. Not on my dead life!

I groaned to myself now as I went to stand in front of my window, thinking about Friday night when I went to the club. Man…I had a great time…but Dad is going to be pissed when I tell him I lied to him and broke my grounding. Ugh! God! I sat on the edge of my bed and starting thinking about my great idea to lie to Dad.

A/N: For those of you who are worried…Emmett is not going to get the old-school vampire punishment. If you remember from Breaking the Rules, Carlisle doesn't believe in punishing his children like that. His father abused him with the strap and he doesn't wish that on his own children. He was just threatening Emmett, but the bottom line is that spankings don't work for Emmett. He's had so many and none are effective, so like most parents, Carlisle needs to find a more effective method of punishment. Please leave your review of this story as I am very interested in what you think about this chapter and in addition share your thoughts as to how you think Daddy should handle his "wayward" son who is driving him "mad." Personally I don't thinking a whipping is going to deter his behavior for long. The best suggestion goes into the story.

If you read, please review.


	4. Chapter 4 The CoverUp

AN: Contains reference to corporal punishment. If you don't like to read this type of fiction or the thought of grown ass vampires getting whippings, please exit through the side door immediately. Characters belong to Stephenie…story is mine. Happy reading! Hope you enjoy!

Emmett's POV

And there it was. My Dad knew about that damn dent in his car and didn't let me know until the next morning. He did that on purpose! Man! That was just jacked up! He knew that I was gonna be stressin' about that all night. Then when he called me downstairs, I just knew I was about to go meet my maker…the real one!

I was surprised that all he did was threaten me. He had _no_ intentions of whipping me with that belt for putting that dent in his car, but he sure scared the hell outta me. I hadn't been whipped with a belt since my human father used one. I just couldn't let myself believe that my vampire-dad would ever hit me with that. Whew! I dodged that bullet!

To say he was not a happy camper was an understatement. He was _stuffed_ by what I had done to his '_treasure_.' He was boiling like lava, and I just _knew_ he was gonna spit fire on me!

So despite the dent, my behind was spared; however, I was gonna be held prisoner in this house for three nights and two long…dreary…boring days! That was worse than _any_ whipping. I mean _seriously_, my Dad should have just given me a beating right then and called it a day. I mean…he doesn't _always_ spank me for everything I do. I admit that most of the time I _probably_ deserved it, but hey, I wasn't gonna be the one that told him so.

That Thursday morning, my girl Rose was dying to know what happened since she'd only heard pieces of our conversation. I knew she didn't like what Dad was saying because I heard her growl a couple of times. I was sure Dad heard it too. He couldn't have cared less, but he understood. He knew how protective we were of our mates. That didn't matter to him though. We couldn't beat him on our best day!

I promised Rosie that I would fill her in on the way to school because I was already planning an escape from Alcatraz, and I didn't want Mom to hear me talking about being grounded. She would surely tell the Warden, and then I would get strapped for sneaking out.

"_**Edward…Alice….Jazzy…you need to come downstairs! You're going to be late for school!"**_ My Mom called from the kitchen. She was speaking in her normal voice, but she knew we heard her because she could hear groaning all over the house. She was _always_ on us in the mornings about being late, because she knew how much we all hated going to school. This was our normal routine. Get up…drag…drag…get yelled at for dragging. Yeah, that was my Mom, but we loved her. _**"Emmy…Rose…that means now!"**_

"_**Coming, Mom."**_ We all said at the same time. I was still mad at my Dad for grounding me. Well not really for grounding me because I _knew_ I had that comin.' I was just pissed because he was grounding me _and_ making me fix the car. That was _so_ unfair! I mean, just _fixing_ the car was bad enough, but I was gonna have to be stuck in that depressing room with nothin' for the whole weekend while everybody else was having fun! Man! Me and big mouth! I never should have back-talked him!

We all filed into the kitchen, and kissed her as usual. Of course, she always had to fix something on each of us before we left the kitchen. With Eddie, it was usually his hair. He was her baby and she spoiled his rotten ass more than any of us! She picked fuzz outta his hair and kissed him, and then Jazz…but not before straightening his collar. There wasn't anything outta place on Alice, my sweet little sissy, so she passed inspection. Rose of course was flawless. She kissed Mom and left. Well, that just left me, and my Mom knew something was up.

"_**Everything okay, baby?"**_ She asked. I was sure she'd heard Dad scolding me.

"_**I'm good, Mama."**_ I lied. Esme was the sweetest gal…I mean Mom…I knew. She reached up and started stroking my cheek all mom-like with her hand. _**"Baby, you can't lie to me. What happened with your father this morning?"**_

"_**Nothin,' Mom, you know how Dad is. He's always on my case 'bout something. He's just upset that I didn't clean up that mess**__** I**__** made out back. He was sayin' I'd better clean it by Saturday."**_ I couldn't believe how easy that lie fell off my lips…well it really wasn't a lie. It was just a conversation he and I had earlier in the week…_before_ my great idea to steal his baby.

She bought it…I think. _**"Well, dear, you need to do what he says, okay**__**?"**_

"_**Yes, Ma'am."**_

She shook her head, laughing. _**"My Emmy! Come here."**_ She caught me in a big old mom-hug. _**"I love you, baby.**__**"**_

I hugged her back. _**"I love you **__**too, **__**Mama."**_

My sibs were waiting for me out in the yard. When I came out, we all piled in Eddie's Volvo and took off to school. They didn't waste any time grillin' me for info. Eddie was the mind reader, and Alice was the seer, so they already knew what happened anyway.

"_**Alrite, Em. Judgin' by all this junk I'm feelin' rite now, that musta been quite a lashin' Dad gave ya this morning. So you gonna tell us what happened or what?"**_ Jazz, with his sticky, southern tongue was the first to speak up.

"_**Yeah, babe, spill it. What did Drac-Daddy do to you this time? I swear sometimes he can be such a-" **_Everyone, including me, was shocked at Rose's tone. Rose could be mean when she wanted to be, but we all knew that she loved Dad.

"_**Rose, babes, chill. It's all good."**_ I interrupted. I could tell by the way everybody was acting that they didn't like Rose dissin' Dad.

"_**Yeah that would be a good idea Rosalie."**_ Eddie said. No question there…he'd be the first to come to Carlisle's defense…especially against Rose!

"_**Just shut up, Edward!"**_ She snapped.

"_**Make me."**_ He challenged. _**"I'd like to see you try."**_

"_**Alright you two! Enough!"**_ Alice piped from the front seat. _**"God, I swear you two act like you hate each other!"**_

"_**Who said I was acting?"**_ Rose said. It was a good thing none of us really believed her. We all knew she loved Eddie and would kick somebody's ass if they screwed with him!

"_**The feeling's mutual!"**_ No it wasn't. Geez! Those two needed to bury the hatchet – and not in each other's skulls! We were all tired of their petty, un-civil wars!

"_**Alright, cannit guys! **__**Emmett**__,__** what did Dad do to ya?"**_ Jazz jumped in again, trying to get the focus back on my time with Dad.

"_**Nothin' but yell at me for takin' his ride. He threatened **__**me-"**_

Rose snarled. _**"He threatened you? You mean like-"**_

She was gettin' defensive again. _**"Not like that Rosie. He was threatening to whip me with his belt."**_

Everyone but Eddie and Alice was surprised.

"_**A belt?"**_ Rose asked. _**"What the?"**_

"_**Daddy didn't hit him with it Rose."**_ Alice said. _**"He was just threatening him."**_

Rose growled and rolled her eyes. _**"I don't care! He doesn't have the right to do that! He acts like he's the damn Godfather or something! What kind of man threatens to hit his children with a belt? What kind of man hits his kids at all?"**_

"_**Rosie, calm down, babe. Seriously, he was just blowin' air. As a matter of **__**fact, he's not gonna whip me at all for bangin' up his car."**_

Again, everyone but the snoops was surprised.

"_**Oh, man you got off easy! You're lucky Dad isn't gonna gut ya for takin' his car!"**_ Jasper said, laughing. _**"Why isn't he gonna get ya?"**_

"_**I have no idea. All I know is that he's pissed. He told me that I was grounded for the weekend and I have to pay for his car with my allowance until it's all paid for."**_

"_**Aw man! Double punishment."**_ Eddie said. He started playing with the volume on his radio_.__** "Well, at least you're not going to get a good smacking . You should be very grateful for that."**_

I knew he was having _severe_ flashbacks about that one Dad laid on him a few months ago. _**"Yeah, but I hate being grounded. I'd rather be burned at the stake!"**_

My brothers laughed and Alice chuckled and rolled her eyes. Rose, however, sat with her arms crossed. Her anger was still festering. _**"So when does your grounding start?"**_ She asked.

"_**Tomorrow after school." **_

"_**WHAT!"**_ Rose shrieked. I knew she would be mad when I told her that. _**"OOOOGH!"**_

"_**Yepsters! He's taking my phone and everything. He's making me take my clothes and stuff to the guest bedroom, and I have to stay in there the whole weekend away from everybody. It's like being thrown in the freaking hole! And I can only go out huntin' with him or Mom. This is a bunch of crap!"**_

"_**OOOGH…" **_Rosie protested again. _**"I swear I hate living here! I'll be glad when we can move out again! Carlisle is such a jerk at times!"**_

We arrived at the school and we all hopped out. Rose was extremely upset about my punishment, mainly 'cause it meant she was gonna have to hang with Eddie and the others for the entire weekend. She was _not_ looking forward to that.

She walked off leaving the four of us behind.

"_**She'll be alright once she calms down. Don't worry about her, Em."**_ Alice offered. _**"Besides, the bell is going to ring in five minutes."**_

"_**Well, let's go get this day over with!" **_Eddie said. _**"I know we're just all so excited!"**_

They walked off, but Alice caught me by the arm pulling me so we can walk slowly behind them. We slowed some more, but Eddie could still read our minds and Jazz could feel my nervousness. Why couldn't we just live in a normal family where everybody didn't always know what the hell was going on!

"_**Emmett, I know what you're planning, and I should probably warn you that it's not a good idea."**_ So my kid sister knew I was planning on sneaking out of the house and breaking my grounding. "_**That will make Daddy very upset with you."**_

Eddie and Jazz stopped and waited for us to catch up. Eddie smirked at me.

"_**Seriously Emmett, I get what you're thinking. I do. I agree that Dad is hard on us…but dude…that's just not smart! Can't you think of another way of "getting back" at him? Trust me Em. You don't want what I got. **__**Ne-ver!**__"_

"_**I'm not afraid of Carlisle, Eddie!"**_

He and Jazz laughed.

"_**I'm not!"**_ I insisted. _**"I'm just sick of him always treatin' me like I'm some kinda loser."**_

"_**Em, really? You don't really believe that!"**_ Jazz asked. _**"You know betta than that."**_

"_**Yeah, Em, seriously. Daddy loves you."**_ That was Alice's sweet voice._** "You can't blame anyone but yourself."**_

"_**Yeah, but still…I'm not stayin' in that house all weekend long while you guys go out."**_

They all looked at each other, shaking their heads as if they couldn't believe I could be _so_ stupid, and like there wasn't any way in _hell_ I was going out with them. I could tell they were thinkin' 'bout saving their bums.

"_**Don't worry, I won't involve none of you…not even Rosie."**_

"_**This is not going to end well for you Emmett."**_ Alice said. _**"Seriously, you need to rethink your plans."**_

And that's when the bell rang and I ran to find Rose. I knew they were right, but I really didn't care. I was mad at my father for what he was doing to me and I didn't care _what_ happened to me. He was _not_ gonna keep treatin' me like a dumb kid!

Now here I sat, waiting on my father to come home so I could get whipped for sneaking out of the house last night. I shook my head, breathing to keep from going into some kinda freak-out shock. I got off my bed and walked to the window again. I heard my father's car on the main highway. Aw man! I was about to get it for sure…with everybody here…on a Saturday afternoon!

Technically, I guess I was supposed to still be in the guest room until Sunday evening, so I rushed out of my room and upstairs where I would serve the rest of my sentence until then. I was _so_ grateful that Eddie was downstairs with Alice, Jazz, and Rose and not upstairs snoopin' around in my head. Dad was pulling into the yard now, and I hurried up and closed the door to the guest room. Even though I was planning to tell him what I'd done Friday night, I didn't want him coming in and finding me watching TV. That would probably set him off and make my confession that much harder. I heard him pull into the garage, so I tried to keep my nervousness at a minimum 'cause if I didn't, Jazz would puke all over us and Dad would know something was up before he got in the house.

According to some of our vampire-friends, there was news about some recent vampire-on-vampire attacks in other cities, and my Dad had been worried sick about giving me permission to huntin' by myself last night. He had called to check in with me several times to make sure I was okay. I hadn't talked to him since he'd made his last call to make sure I got home alright.

Since he had been _so_ paranoid about letting me go 'hunt,' I figured I better cover myself while I was inside the club…_just_ in case he thought I was really _hunting_ all that time and decided to call to check on me. Oh…I _was _huntin' the entire time…just not only animals. I was huntin' fun, honeys, and lots of freedom…and boy did I find it!

I changed the recording on my voice mail to…"Dad I know you're gonna call a thousand times and you know why I can't pick up right now. Leave me a message, and I will call you as soon as I'm done." Rose knew that Dad had taken my phone, so there was no chance in her calling or texting me. Even if she did, I'd told her I was going huntin.' She still wouldn't know I was at the club. If anyone other than Dad or my family called me, they would have heard that generic message. Dad would understand that I was in the middle of a hunt or kill, and was in vampire-overdrive and couldn't pack up my senses to use the phone. Of course he called and left messages, and I _had_ to return _every_ one of them 'cause he would have assumed something happened and would have come looking for me. I still thought it was sweet that he'd showed _so_ much concern about me yesterday before I left. It was a shame I'd let him down…_again_...by disobeying him.

For today, the plan was to give him a few minutes to settle in once he got home. I would stay outta his way until he had a chance to talk with everyone and to see Mom. My secret confession was safe with her, so I could only hope that being around her would make him forget about me…hopefully. He'd had a long day, and was looking forward to being off on Sunday.

I laid on the bed and buried my face in the pillows. _**I wish I could vanish into Sunday right now! I don't wanna believe that Dad would hit me with anything other than his hand, but I wonder if sneakin' outta of the house last night is gonna earn me a date with the strap! Awww! **_I groaned quietly as I thought about Friday night._** Dad's gonna get that strap to my behind for going to that club. I must be crazy for wanting to fess up to him! **_

I groaned into the pillows again when my mind flashbacked to Thursday evening. We'd come home from school, and since I wasn't grounded yet, I made the most of my free time with Rose. I knew my sentence would be long and hard…I needed to be ready! One thing I didn't do was fix the fence. I had to save that as an excuse for staying home Friday night so my Mom wouldn't expect me to go to Port Angeles with her. I didn't see my Dad Thursday night because he worked late. When he finally came home, I made it my business to stay outta his path in case he had changed his mind about lighting my fire. Thinking about my jail time made that another long night!

Friday when we came home from school, Mom was waiting for us so that she could take us to Port Angeles to get some more stuff for her greenhouse and to hang out. She wanted Eddie to help her get some stuff for the sound system and she'd promised me and Jazz that she would buy us some new Jordans since Dad refused to buy them for us. He said it was a waste since we already _had_ perfectly good shoes. Eddie was getting' new jeans, and Alice and Rose would get the whole strip mall!

She told us that Dad had called and said he would be working an overnight shift, so we didn't have to be in a hurry to get back. I still didn't mention to her that I was grounded…at the time I was _sure_ my Dad had…now I know he'd forgotten to tell her.

I knew my plan would be flawless then. Mom and the others would leave, Dad would be gone all night, and since he was working on the ER, he would stay _really_ busy… and I could do whatever I wanted.

Perfect!

The others had told Rose about my plan to sneak out. She, _of course,_ wanted to go with me, but there was no way I was gonna let her get in the line of fire. If Dad knew she was involved, she'd be punished too. I just couldn't have that…for any of them…not that the other three were gonna stick their necks out for me anyway! I had to make up a lie to get Rose off my back.

Esme was worried about me staying home alone for too long, but didn't think too much of it when I told her I didn't wanna go 'cause I had gotten scolded by Dad about the mess in the backyard and that I had to stay home to clean it up. That was partly the truth. He _had_ scolded me for tearing up the fence and told me that I needed to have it cleaned and repaired before Saturday. That happened the day _before_ I stole the car. I just filled in the gaps a little here and there to make my story more believable. Again, this was always happening with me and Dad, so she shrugged it off and left to go to Port Angeles with my sibs.

I basically told Rose that I had to clean the yard, which I did, and that I was going for a hunt, and that Dad said that I couldn't go with anyone but him or Esme. I explained that he was doing that to keep me from hangin' out with them, and that he told me that if Mom couldn't go, he would go with me. That was _before_ he knew he had to work a double shift Friday night. I didn't want her to get in trouble, so I said she should just go with Mom. I told her that even if she stayed, she couldn't be in the guest room because her scent would be up there, and Dad would know she'd been in there if he decided to check.

I told her that Mom could possibly tell Dad that she'd stayed behind with me. If he knew that we were home alone, there would be no way I could lie and tell him that we had not been together in our room, or in _any_ part of the house, especially since our scent was _already_ all over the place…except in that damn guest room! He would automatically know that I broke my grounding by being with Rose. Trust me…he would know! She reluctantly agreed to go, but not without snapping at a picture of Dad first. Luckily she didn't let Mom see her. That wouldn't have gone well for her…besides blowing my cover.

My brothers laughed at me, 'cause they knew I was still planning to break grounding. Alice just shook her head and raced to the car, too excited about going shopping to care anymore. That kiss Rose had given me before she left really made me mad, and made me _really_ wanna go through with my plan. Carlisle might have taken my girl from me for the weekend, but I would show him that I could still have _loads_ of fun!

_So…_they all left, and once I made sure I could no longer hear Mom's car, I knew I was free to par-tay! Okay, first things first. I knew that I had to come up with a story for Dad. I mean seriously…I guessed that Mom didn't know about Dad grounding me 'cause she didn't bring it up Friday before or after school. So that meant that if she happened to tell Dad about going to Port Angeles, he would ask if I went them, trying to find out if I stuck to my prison sentence. She would say no…that I stayed home. He would ask me what I did while they were gone. Of course, I would tell him I fixed the fence, but being that _somehow_ my Dad could _always_ read me when I wasn't tellin' the whole truth, I had to head him off before he asked.

I went into the den and picked up the house phone since I didn't have my cell phone. My Dad made me leave it along with my IPAD, IPOD, and all of my other electros in his study on Thursday. Yeah…it was Friday and I'd officially gone a whole twenty-four hours without technology!

I dialed his cell phone number and patiently waited for him to pick up. He hadn't spoken to me since he chewed me out Thursday morning…mainly because he worked late Thursday night, and when he did finally get home, I was sulking and didn't wanna talk to him. He was already gone to work Friday morning by the time we came downstairs to go to school. He picked up on the third ring.

"_**Hey, son, what's up?" **_He knew it was me because he had my number programmed in his cell phone, and unless he had it on vibrate, he would hear my ringtone, "Bad to the Bone." He'd laughed when I put it on there as a joke, but he refused to take it off. He had one for each of us kids…even one for Mom. I could hear him shuffling papers around on the desk. He'd told me once that Forks Hospital was a zoo on Friday nights, so I assumed that he was doing paperwork or taking a brief break or something.

"_**Hey, Dad." **_I tried to make voice sound innocent. _**"Um, I was just wondering if it will be okay if I went huntin.'"**_

"_**Why would you need to call and ask me that, son? I've already told you that was okay, as long as you don't take all night and if you go with Esme or myself." **_His voice was soft, but firm. Damn! I wondered if he was suspicious. He probably was.

"_**Um…I just wanted to make sure, Dad, 'cause…you said I could only go with you or Mom. I was askin' 'cause they all went to Port Angeles, and Mama said that you had to be at work all night."**_

It musta hit him then that he'd gotten distracted and didn't tell Mom about grounding me.

"_**What did you mother say when you told her that you were not traveling with them? I forgot to mention to her that you are grounded."**_

"_**Nothin.'" **_I had to be careful and not tell him that I was keeping my grounding a secret from her. He would immediately know I was up to something.

"_**Nothing, Emmett? I find that hard to believe, son." **_Damn! I had to get better at lying!

"_**I mean…not like that, Dad. She asked me why I didn't wanna go and I told her that I got in trouble with you and I had to stay home." **_Now all of that was the truth. That was _exactly_ what I told her. I just didn't tell him that I'd told her that I had to stay to _"fix_ _the_ _fence_._"_ I _purposely_ left that part out.

"_**When did your mother say she will be back?"**_

"_**She said they would only be gone for a few hours." **_Now that wasn't _entirely_ the truth. She'd said they didn't have to be in a hurry since he was working late. That meant they would be gone long enough for me to go to the club and for a quick hunt.

"_**And you can't wait until she gets home?"**_

"_**Yes, Sir…but I…I mean, Dad, Rose is not here. Eddie, Jazz, and Alice are gone. It's not like I'm gonna be hangin' out with them out there. Mama could be gone for a while 'cause I think they were gonna see a movie too!" **_I whined. I didn't wanna tell him that they were going shopping for shoes too, so I threw that in there about the movies. Hell! Maybe they were going to the movies! Just 'cause they didn't say anything about it, didn't mean they were not gonna go!

"_**I seriously doubt your mother will be in Port Angeles all night, son." **_He paused a minute. _**"When was the last time you hunted, Emmett?"**_

I knew he wouldn't be able to deny me the right to satisfy my need to hunt. That was very important to him. He believed that the more we hunted, the less likely we were to harm humans. He never denied us the right to hunt, especially as punishment for something we did, even if he or Mom had to go with us.

"_**Monday."**_

"_**Emmett, if you had gone hunting with us on Wednesday, you wouldn't feel the need to go today…the day you're supposed to be grounded."**_

"_**But you said I could go…"**_

"…_**if…you went with your mother, who is currently not home, or myself. Unfortunately, I have to work." **_He paused again. I could tell he was thinking. _**"You know I prefer for you all to hunt in pairs or in groups at night. I don't like the idea of you being out there by yourself."**_

"_**Dad! I can handle going huntin' by myself! I do it all the time!"**_

"_**I never said that you couldn't, Em, and I know there are times you do go alone…even at night. I just want to make sure you're going to be safe, son." **_I heard him tapping on his desk. _**"You know there is always a threat of others. I would feel better about it if the family was closer…and if you at least had your cell phone with you. That would certainly make me feel better about allowing you to go…" **_He exhaled. I could tell he was really stressin' about this. _**"…especially with the recent reports of-"**_

"_**Dad!"**_ God! He was killin' me with all that worrying._** "I'm cool! Really! I'm not scared of nothin.' Trust me…nothin' out there wants a piece of this. I got this on lock! Believe me…I just wish another vamp would even try to jump me! I'll be waitin' on them!"**_ I said, cocky as hell. _**"Don't worry, Pops. I'll be ready to take'em all down!"**_

"_**That's what I'm afraid of." **_He sighed again, probably scratching his head like he did when he was all worried and stuff. _**"I don't know about this, Em. Maybe I could take a break when things calm down here and go with you if your mother isn't back by then."**_

"_**Dad! For the last time…I'll be okay! I'm a grown man and besides can't nobody beat me! It's only for a little while. You act like I've never went out huntin' at night by myself. You're always talkin' about being able to trust me, but you're treatin' me like a kid again, Dad!"**_

He sighed like he was in deep thought. I could bet that his forehead was all wrinkled and he was rubbing it. My Dad truly worried about our safety when we were out huntin.' Ever since he changed me, he'd always kept a watchful eye on me. Truthfully, it was good to know my Pops was always lookin' out for me.

"_**I'm not trying to do that, son. Please forgive me. It's not that I don't trust you. I understand that you think you can take down everything that moves, but I still worry. I would be beside myself if anything were to happen to you, Em."**_

"_**Pops! Please! You must think you're talkin' to Eddie! He's the weak one in the bunch! I told you. I got this!"**_

"_**You know, Em, it's just strange that you want to go tonight. Why not tomorrow? You've waited more than a week before, son. If you wait until tomorrow, you and I can go together."**_

God, I swore he was getting on my nerves. Yes or No. That was all he needed to say. It just didn't take all of that damn questioning and buggin' to get to the point.

"_**I'm stressin,' Pops, and I need to hunt!"**_

He was silent for what seemed like forever. He reluctantly caved in. Sighing heavily, he said, _**"Alright, son, you may go."**_

Yes!

I could tell he was _very _uneasy about that.

"_**Emmett?"**_

"_**Sir?"**_

"_**I trust that you will do what you **__**say you**__** will do, son."**_

"_**Sure thing, Pops."**_

"_**I mean it, Em."**_

"_**I will, Dad, geez!"**_

"_**No stunts, okay? I know you're strong and tough, and can take care of yourself, but I want you to be careful. Will you promise me that? Please?"**_His voice was so tender and loving…nothin' like it had been Thursday morning when he was blastin' my ass for messing up his car. Without a doubt, the love he was showing me was too much!

"_**Dad, I'll be okay."**_

If he was gonna start makin' me promise stuff, I wasn't gonna be able to go through with my plan. I was already feeling guilty about lying to him. After all, it was like I could feel his heart. He was _very_ nervous about letting his son go out into a possibly dangerous situation. Where was Jazz when you needed him?

"_**I'm serious, Em. I'll be worried about you all night. I'm allowing you to go against my better judgment, but I know it's been several days since you hunted, and I don't want you to have a meltdown before we get back home. I need for you to promise me that you will watch your back while you're out there. Can you do that for me?"**_

It was true that we normally hunted in pairs or groups, _especially_ at night, but we had hunted alone at night before. It wasn't like Dad to be _so_ worried when one of us went out. He'd been worried about wandering vamps attacking others…humans and vampires, and warned us about going out alone, and staying together. That was partly why Mom had decided to go with us to Port Angeles. My Dad didn't want any of us left alone for too long, especially at night when he wasn't there. He didn't worry about working long shifts at the hospital as long as we stayed together. He knew we would protect each other.

"_**S'okay Dad. Trust me. Besides if something goes wrong, Alice will see it."**_

He sighed again…all that damn worrying…and Bella called Eddie a worry-wart!

"_**Sometimes Alice misses things, son."**_

"_**Dad, Alice is always watching us. She won't miss it. Calm down. Nothin' bad is gonna happen to me." **_I laughed to lighten the mood. _**"You're gettin' soft old man. Esme's wearing you down with all that lovin' she's spreadin' all over ya!"**_

I heard him chuckle softly. _**"Alright, alright, I have to get to work now."**_

"_**Okay, Dad."**_

"_**Oh and Em?"**_ He said, still trying to shake his worry. He decided to change the subject for a minute.

I held in a sigh, but rolled my eyes and tapped my feet. _**"Yes, Dad."**_

"_**My car was repaired today. The dealership came by and picked it up this morning after I got to work. They brought it back once they were finished with the repairs. I went ahead and paid for the work, and I have a receipt that I will personally put in your hands…then you will know exactly how much you owe me."**_

I groaned. I did _not_ want to hear that. Maybe I was happier when he was worrying. _**"How much is it, Dad?"**_

"_**Let's just say you will be bumming money for quite some time to purchase whatever you need, son, because you won't have a dime to your name for a while…or you can get a job!"**_

"_**This crap is so unfair."**_ I mumbled, away from the mouthpiece so that he couldn't hear me. Of course…he heard me.

"_**What was that Em?"**_ I could still hear anxiety in his voice, but he _instantly _pushed that back a little when he caught my negative attitude. He was not at all happy that I was back-talking him again!

"_**Nothing, Dad."**_

"_**Your mouth is going to land your backside in trouble, son." **_He chastised. I shivered. I was more afraid of him than the vamps in the woods! A moment later I heard someone enter his office and him saying "Thank you" softly to the person, who must have given him something. He told them he would be there in a minute, and I heard them leave his office. _**"Do you want to add to your grounding? Or better yet, do you want a whipping when I get home?"**_

Hell no!

"_**No, Sir."**_ I said, my voice shaking, as well as my right leg.

"_**Then I suggest you watch your mouth."**_ He was interrupted by a loud paging on the intercom. They needed him in the ER.

Thank God!

"_**Sorry, Dad."**_

"_**Don't be disrespectful, Emmett, and stop trying to act like I'm being unfair to you. I think I'm being more than fair to you."**_

As he was scolding me, I heard someone else come into his office and started talking to him. It sounded like Dr. Michael Brenn, his good chum and fellow surgeon. Dad greeted him and told him to give him a second to end his phone call with me. Dr. Brenn remained in the room for the rest of our conversation.

"_**Alright, you have my permission to go, and you better come straight home when you're finished. Stay close to the house, and remember what I told you."**_ I was sure Dad had heard Dr. Brenn _before_ he entered, and avoided using the term 'hunt' or 'vampires' while he was in the room. _**"I mean it, Emmett."**_

"_**I will, Dad."**_

"_**Go into my bedroom and get your phone off of my dresser. Make sure it's fully charged before you leave, and call me immediately if you need me, and I'll come to you. Make sure you turn it on so I can reach you. You can put it back when you return."**_

"_**Got it, Dad!"**_

He still wasn't sure. Damn vampire-parent intuition! I heard Dr. Brenn moving in the background, chuckling as he listened to the tail end of our conversation. He seemed amused that my father wanted to keep some serious tabs on his adoptive 'teenage' son. I would never tell Dad, but I sorta thought Brenn was jealous of him and his family…just sayin.'

"_**Alright, son, I will see you later. You still didn't promise me."**_

"_**Okay, Dad, I promise I'll be careful and to stomp a mud-hole in somebody's butt if they try to jump me."**_

He laughed.

"_**Alright then..." **_He laughed again. _**"I love you, Em. Be good and call me if you need me."**_ He reminded me. Aww…my Pops loved me! I actually got teary eyed.

"_**I will. Love you too."**_

"…_**and call your Mother and tell her where you'll be as well in case I don't have time to call her right away."**_

Aw man! Like hell I will. _**"I will, Dad. Don't worry 'bout me."**_

"_**Very well then. I'll be in touch. Bye-bye now.**_

"_**Later, Pops."**_

_Finally! _That call was over! We hung up and I clapped my hands. I'd won that battle. Victory was mine!

So that was my lie…and I told it to my Pops…fully aware of the consequences.

After I hung up the phone, I went upstairs to my Dad's room to grab my phone. Of course it was completely dead, so I went back downstairs and charged it. I decided to watch TV…really…no one was home and no one knew I was grounded but me and my Dad, so I totally disregarded my grounding. I later went outside to fix the fence…just to make my story solid.

At around nine o'clock, my Mom called my cell to check on me…probably 'cause she didn't know my Dad had taken it from me. Surely she had seen it lying on his dresser…maybe not. I mean, it wasn't unusual for the Warden to yank my stuff, so she probably just shrugged it off. Since he'd given me permission to use it, I answered with no problem.

Thinking about the stranger-vamps made her equally worried about me, but I smoothed things over with her. I assumed that Dad hadn't called her yet about my plans to go hunting or about me being grounded because she didn't bring it up. That was strange. He musta been so distracted by all that worrying he was doing and by that emergency they were paging him for and just didn't have _time_ to call. My Dad _always_ called my Mom from work…sometimes maybe even for a little phone nookie! Nah…not my Dad! If he did, I certainly didn't wanna know. But for him not to call her about something he thought was important…as worried as he'd been…he musta been _extremely _busy. Besides, he'd told me to call her and let her know where I was going. Maybe he thought I would do that, and everything would be okay…I dunno.

She finally told me that they were planning to stay longer in Port Angeles so they could see some pop star at a local piano bar, and that she would come home if I wanted her to. Of course, I told her I didn't want to spoil her fun, and that I would be okay. As promised, I told her that I was going for a hunt, and for good measure, I even put in that Dad also knew I was going. Like Dad, she agreed to let me be, but made me promise to hunt close to the house. I did.

So with the folks off my back, I decided to go upstairs and get dressed. While I was up there, I grabbed some extra stuff from my room and took it to my prison cell.

Perfect!

So that was the story. I left the house and went out to the club. Normally, we wouldn't hit the club until _much_ later, keeping our curfews in mind, but since I was pressed for time, I decided to leave early, with my fake ID in my pocket. Yeah…that was one of those vampire cover-ups we _were_ allowed to get away with…Dad didn't want to risk us going to jail or anything. Truthfully, everybody but Eddie and Alice looked old enough to be able to get in, but we all carried them. Our parents were cool with it…to a certain degree…as long as we didn't lie to them about what we were doing, where we were going, and we didn't get into or cause trouble.

Like I said, I had a great time…and yes all those honeys were all over me…but all I did was dance with them. I still had my Rosie at home, and I wouldn't hurt her for the world. Thank God I didn't get tired. I pretended to drink and partied for at least three hours. Although I had a great time, I still missed my Rosie. It wasn't the same without her there…shakin' her money maker all up on me! Mmm…I 'bout lost it just thinkin' about her.

I finally decided to leave, and remembered that I'd brought a change of clothes. I quickly changed before I left so that no one would pick up the scents from the club…in case they were home when I got back. I tossed the ones I was wearing in the trash and left.

I decided to go for a quick hunt afterwards, so once I hit the parking lot of the club, I headed straight for the woods towards our house. I made sure no one saw me. To appease my Dad, I stayed fairly close to the house. My family could sense me for several miles, so as long as I stayed inside the perimeter, my hunting cover-up was iron-clad. I was glad. Maybe Mom would tell Dad that I had hunted near the house, and he would feel like I did what he told me to do. I knew Eddie was listening and Alice was watching, so I had no problems on my little hunting trip!

After I took down a couple of deer, I made a point to get _their _scent on my skin and in my hair. I purposely dropped blood on the front of my shirt for effect. Then I ran back home. When I got there, I saw lights on in the house, but I knew the others were already back. Of course the garage was locked, so I had to go in through the front door.

Everyone was 'up'…including my Mom. She took in my appearance and was happy that I'd come back in one piece. Like I said, she'd heard me and smelled me outside anyway, and knew I was okay. I saw her eyes go from my hair, to my eyes, to my clothes, and then she took a deep breath. My parents knew me too well…but I outsmarted them this time. I'd changed clothes and she had no clue where I had been. Of course, why would she suspect me anyway? As far as she was concerned, I had no reason to lie to her.

I made a point to act like my normal self, so Rose wouldn't know that I lied to her. She was going to be pissed worse than Dad that I fibbed about going out…well maybe that's stretching it…but she would not be happy with me. My brothers and sister gave me their "your-ass-is-dead-deer" smirks, but I knew they wouldn't tell on me. Mainly because from time to time, we all did stupid stuff that we didn't want our parents to know about. Rose just smiled, and then…finally…I remembered that I was grounded.

So now, on a dreary Saturday evening, I sat on the bed listening to my Dad talking to my mother about yours truly in her study. He was _finally _telling her about what happened with his car and my punishment, and about the stranger-vamps and him being anxious and all about me being out there in the woods alone last night. Thank god I already told her about lying to Dad and sneaking out to go to that club. I was sure I would get some backlash from her later after she put all the details together. My mother wasn't stupid or a pushover. I was sure I was going to get a good lecture on lying to her as well…maybe a swat or two from her hands. Oh man!

She didn't let on to Dad that I had told her I went to that club, but she did tell him that I'd told her I was grounded. Go Mom! She didn't even tell him that I'd _just_ told her today either! He just apologized for forgetting to tell her, and getting too busy at the hospital to call her last night. I even heard him tell her that he was glad that I'd told her I was grounded since he'd forgotten to do it. Man! He was clueless! Did he really think I would tell Mom about being grounded _before _I had a chance to sneak out? Oh…I told her alright…but _after _I brushed him off and had my fun! Even if she didn't do it on purpose, I did love my Mom for covering for me. I decided to give him a little more time with her before I walked the walk of shame…or should I say death?

A/N: Wow...nice and long huh? Hmmm…what can I say? Emmett just thinks he had it all figured out huh? He really outsmarted his parents this time, but guilt got the best of him. What will Daddy do when Emmett tells him the truth? Keep reading to find out.

Add'l comments: I have to say that I put a lot of time into writing this story. I wasn't going to say anything, but it bothers me that people will read a story that someone has put so much work into, and not review. For the life of me, I don't get that. I have been getting a lot of story alerts and favorite stories but no reviews. Now, having said that, I'm not one to care about reviews for the sake of getting reviews, but they do help invoke thought into making the story better. I admit. I have read stories and didn't review…but only for the ones I didn't like. If I truly enjoyed the story, I took the time to leave the author a decent review. If people aren't willing to provide constructive feedback, positive or negative, then I won't continue with this story…except in a PM for my faithful followers and reviewers. Thanks for reading and reviewing (those of you who faithfully review) and I truly hope you are enjoying this.


	5. Chapter 5  Guilty As Charged

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If you don't like spanking fictions, why bother reading past this line?

A/N: Thanks to my loyal fans and sorry for the long update. I've had a lot going on lately and no time to write. Thanks to my sweetheart, crazy beta for helping me.

Emmett's POV

Man, talk about not being able to relax! My ass was fish bait, and it was entirely my fault! My dad was going to bust me wide open for lying to him. Sneakin' out to that club might have given me a small victory over him, but the guilt was killin' me, especially after he had worried himself to near death last night about me going hunting alone.

_Aw man! Pops is so gentle and all that, and I'm just a big spoof…a screw up! I wouldn't blame him if he finally decided to kick me outta here._

My relationship with Carlisle was similar to that I'd shared with my human father. I was actually closer to Carlisle than I was my real dad. I guess it was because I'd spent more time with him. In spite of this, I would always have nothing but love for my first Pops. The day I was attacked by that bear in the woods, my dad and I were on a camping trip. I had ventured out a little only after promising him that I would stay on the trail and yell if I needed him. Man, I was _always_ so easily distracted. I strayed too far from him, and _well_…we know the rest of _that_ story.

Carlisle had always taken _excellent_ care of me. He was supportive and just a _good _man. After my transformation, I was immediately drawn to him. I couldn't help it. It was like being saved by an angel that brought me to God. Since I had no issue with being changed into a vampire, we bonded almost instantly, and he soon taught me just about everything.

That's not to say I totally accepted his rules about only feeding off animals. I'll admit it. I slipped a couple of times and regretfully killed people. My Pops forgave me though, and reassured me that I was not a monster, and that I had only given in to my new nature. He encouraged me to be the man he knew I was inside. He believed I was worthy of life and always saw me at my highest potential. He was more than just a coven leader…vampire in hiding. He was _much_ more than that. He was my Dad.

It was hard in the beginning being away from my natural family. I missed them a lot. Carlisle knew that I missed my father more than anything, so he made himself available for me whenever I needed him. It was easy to love him as my father. _Everything_ about him was intriguing and I found myself drawn to his unfailing love. He would come into my room and sit with me for what seemed like hours at a time, talking or sometimes just sitting with me. I learned to trust him and I started telling him stuff about my life as a human. He'd laugh and yeah…cry with me. I would never tell anyone this, especially Jazz and Eddie, but he'd hold me sometimes…like a baby and comfort me. I was sure I some point he'd done the same thing for them. Like I said… it wasn't long before Carlisle became my Pops in every way that mattered.

My love for Carlisle grew over the years as well as my respect for him. He was so intelligent and patient and easy to talk to. I could ask him just about anything and amazingly he knew it all…or at least I thought he did! He spent a lot of time with me and Eddie and he always encouraged us to do the brother-bonding thing. Life with my little brother was a hoot and I never passed up an opportunity to bug the crap outta him. Most of the time Pops thought it was funny…and _that_ really got under Eddie's skin. He used to whine to Pops like a little girl, but Carlisle would basically tell him to man up and get me back…as long as we kept it playful.

Eddie eventually learned to do that, and once he did we _really _started acting like brothers. I guess we musta took it too far. Dad grew tired of us fighting and nagging each other as did Esme and even Rosie. He was constantly on our case about this or that, and soon lost patience with it all. We ignored him and after much talking, Pops finally laid down the law. He basically told us to 'play nicely' or else.

Eddie had told me that we didn't want Carlisle to have to get rough with us because we would be feeling the burn for a while. I'd laughed at him, and couldn't believe that Carlisle Cullen was _even_ capable of harming someone that was threatening him, let alone spanking us. Since I didn't think he was serious, I ignored Pops warning.

One day when Pops was at work, I accidentally spilled something on some of Eddie's precious sheet music and he went bonkers on my ass. He started yellin' at me and all, and Mom jumped right in and tried to calm us down. Rosie, of course, started barking up Eddie's tree in my defense and he got all up in her face and that _ticked_ me off.

Okay forget the whole brother-bonding-love-each-other-forever mantra Carlisle preached to us on the regular. Eddie's ass was mine. He could do whatever he wanted to do to me, but he was not gonna be stompin' all over my girl…no way! To make a long story short, he and I started to rumble. Esme was screaming for us to stop and tried to break us up, but we were both determined to show the other who was the alpha-brother.

Now I have to say I was mad and all, but I was very aware that Esme was in the middle of us. I was trying not to hit her, but Eddie moved out of the way and I accidentally knocked her down causing her to fall right about the time my father walked through the door. Of course he would come in on _that_ part…when I was knocking his wife and mate around! Pops was furious. He raced over to Mom to make sure she was alright. She insisted she was fine and by that time Eddie and I had stopped fighting. Pops sent us both to our rooms and let's just say that later that night, my father made good on his promise to deal with our squabbling.

Eddie got his first. Even though Pops went easy on him, he still cried like a baby…he always cried…geez! He got it light since I started the fight, but Pops told him that he didn't like us fighting and all and that Eddie could have handled the situation better. I wasn't so lucky though. Dad came into my room and our 'discussion' was a little bit different. I will just say this, that was my first, not my worst, butt whipping from Dr. Carlisle Cullen, my Pops by choice, and I will never forget it…and yes, I cried like a little girl.

"_I just don't know what I'm going to do with that son of mine, Sweetheart. Sometimes I think he is purposefully trying to drive me insane."_ I groaned as I listened to my Pops talking to my mother. She laughed and reassured him that I was just being my typical self. It was true that I did get on my Dad's nerves, as patient as he always tried to be. I could rock his boat like no one else could. Sometimes it was hilarious, but in cases like this it was anything but comical.

"_Well, I'm going to shower now. You want to join me?" _Gross! I was so glad I could not read minds like Eddie. I did hear him groaning so he must have intercepted Dad's thoughts. I laughed to myself. That served him right for always snooping around in other people's heads.

"_Mmm…did you have to ask?" _Gross! I heard Eddie and the others make a mad dash out of the front door. They had heard that conversation too despite the fact that my parents were whispering and the house was sound proof. I guess they were able to hear because they were _intentionally_ listening to see what was gonna happen to me.

_Man this sucks! Everyone else is going outside and I have to be stuck in this love den! My God! This is worse than waiting for my ass to get busted! This is some old bull!_

There was no way my folks didn't hear my sibs leaving, and they _knew_ I was upstairs. So…technically that _should_ have stopped them from doing the 'do' in the shower, but nooo…not _my_ parents! Geez!

_God please freeze my venom and let me die! _

Without my IPOD, I was stuck listening to my parents making out in the shower. _Oh gawd! This ain't right!_ I started singing loudly and I swear I heard my Dad laughing. _ He's probably payin' me back for all the times he had to listen to me and Rosie going at it. _

A few minutes later, my father was a happy man. _Well at least he's in a good mood now. Maybe he will go light on me when I tell him what I did._

I heard them finish dressing and my father tell my mother he was going to his study for a while. She kissed him…a little too long for my queasy stomach, and he left the room. He started towards his office, but I heard him turn to come upstairs.

_Oh no! He's coming up here! _I quickly jumped off the bed and started pacing back and forth. _Oh man, what am I gonna say? Pops is gonna knock the hell outta me!_

He finally reached my door and stopped. As always he knocked. I froze. I couldn't say anything. He waited and then knocked again. "Emmett may I come in please?"

I wiped my palms down my jeans…as if I could sweat. "Sure thing Pops."

He opened the door stepping into the room looking like he had just come back off vacation or something. His hair was still wet from his shower-date with Mom. He was wearing a pair of old sweats and a white T-shirt which meant he was good and comfortable and would be in great condition to bust my ass after he found out what I did.

"Hey Pops." I said gruffly, shifting my weight. I was barely able to look at him.

He read my actions and immediately knew something was up. _Damn! Why does Carlisle always have to be in Dad-mode? He knows that something is up and it's not just because I'm grounded for talking back. He knows that I am acting funny! Get it together Emmett!_

"Did you have a good day at work?" I asked weakly.

He crossed his arms over his chest. His just stood there staring at me, sizing me up I guess. His blonde hair was dark because of the shower, and he started chewing on his bottom lip like he always did when he knew we were up to something.

"It was work, son. How was your day?" _Okay so um…yeah…he knows I'm guilty as a sweaty sinner in church! _

"Boring." _Until you got home and decided to have a romp with Mom!_ "You missed Mom?"

He stifled a laugh and ignored me. "Are you feeling better?"

Always the doctor…daddy…whatever! "Sure, Pops. I am okay."

"Hmm. I mean your hunt. Was it good for you?" He asked suspiciously.

I cleared my throat. "Um yeah…it was great." I shifted my eyes to the window and watched the moon. "I'm dyin' in this room. It's stuffy in here."

"Well your grounding ends soon enough. Maybe next time you will learn not to be so disrespectful." He was standing in front of me now. I could feel his breath on my face and smell his shampoo. I could even smell traces of Mom on him. "Is there something you need to tell me, son?"

_Dammit! This dude is a freakin' empath! Forget Jazz…we got it all wrong! Pops is the one that senses everything!_

"Um…what do you mean Dad?" I asked nervously. It was a known fact that I could not get away with anything.

"Emmett Dale Cullen," he said softly, hardly above a whisper. His topaz eyes seemed to bounce with that 'I-got-your-dumb-ass-again' look. "I know you." He left his arm crossed over chest, but poked me gently on my chest with his finger. "Better than you know yourself." He pulled his arm back to join the other one over his chest. "Spill it."

_Lie. Lie. Lie._ "Dad I have no idea what you're talkin' about." I was scared!

He stood there again, just watching me and waiting for me to come clean. Carlisle was nobody's dummy. He called my bluff instantly. "Emmett, did you break your grounding?"

_There is no way Carlisle Cullen is from Earth, and the fact that he knows so much about me is just plain eerie. I can just keep lying to him and make this worse, or I can fess up and be through with this once and for all. Maybe that would earn me some points with him. Besides I really feel badly for what I did._

I sighed and decided to just tell him the truth. "Yes, sir." I was too ashamed to look him in the eyes. He sighed but did not speak nor did he take his eyes off me. He didn't seem surprised at all. The silence was killing me so I decided to continue. "Last night."

He scratched his head, no doubt replaying our phone conversation last night in our mind. He kept his arms crossed but it was his turn to watch the floor. He didn't say a word, but was in deep thought for what seemed like forever. I was so embarrassed by what I had done. I kept disappointing him and it seemed like I just couldn't get it right where he was concern. Finally he looked up at me.

His face was blank. _Nothing_. He stared at me as I squirmed under his intense stare. His face didn't change one bit. I forced myself to keep my eyes locked with his. I couldn't tell what he was feeling or thinking because he just had that vacant look on his face. Now _I_ was wishing for Eddie's mind reading ability.

I may not be able to surprise my Pops anymore, but he _always_ surprised me. Without one word, without one breath, without a twitch of his face, he turned on his heels, arms still crossed, and walked out of the room. Mad? Disgusted? Disappointed? I didn't know as I watched him disappear. I stood there not sure as to what I should do. Surely I was looking every bit the buffoon right then. I dropped my arms to my sides and let my chin fall to my chest. Carlisle left the door open but somehow I knew I should probably stay put. It was not long until the house became completely still.

A/N: WOW! What a cliffy huh? Don't worry we're not done yet. What will our favorite Dad do with his son? Suggestions? Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review.


	6. Chapter 6 Rough Lessons

Characters belong to SM. Plot belongs to me…and the errors.

A/N: Well guys. I decided to update EC. It's been a while but I want to go ahead and finish my stories before I lay fanfiction down. I promise that they will all be completed because there's nothing worse than reading a story but not getting an end. I will finish this story as well as BTR. This is my promise. I apologize in advance for any errors and advise you to hang on for the ride. Emmett and his father have a lot of growing to do and a lot to learn from life and from each other. Thanks for the reviews, messages, and for reading. Enjoy.

Emmett's POV

"Pops!" I ran out of the guest room and went looking for my Dad. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why, but I had to find a way to smooth this out. He was in the kitchen looking for something in one of the drawers, and totally ignored me. "Pops, I can explain."

He took some sort of key out of the drawer and spun on his heels to face me. There were topaz flames in his gentle eyes.

_Oh man! I'm road kill._

"Pops, I'm real sorry I lied to you, but I can-"

In a millionth of a millisecond he was standing in front of me. Before I knew what was happening, he slapped my face. I saw stars as I grabbed my jaw and cowered away from him against the wall. Totally unexpected, that hit brought a stream of tears from my eyes.

"What the f-"

"Say it and I swear I will break you down like a box!" He interrupted and pointed his finger at me.

Okay at this point a red flashing light came on in my head and I instantly shut my mouth. Pops was livid and I decided to smartly obey my father. I looked at him through cloudy eyes, the venom making it difficult to see clearly. As I stood there trying to smolder the blaze on my face, I recognized sadness and pain in his eyes. He was hurt.

"Emmett you lied to me. You have no idea how worried about you I was last night and you had the unmitigated gall to tell me a bold face lie…and for what? So you can behave like a child and sneak out of the house?" He shook his head in total disbelief. "How could you do that Emmett? I try my best to be good to you and you take advantage of me like this?"

"Dad, I-"

He raised his hand. "Emmett…shut that down! I don't want to hear it." I just stood there holding my face. I was doomed. "I'm going upstairs to get my strap and when I come back down, I'm going to bust your backside good."

My eyes nearly popped outta my head. I could not believe what I was hearing. My Pops was really going to hit me with something other than his hand!

_What the?_

"D-"

He jumped at me but caught himself before he could touch me or send me sailing through that wall. I flinched and cowered away from him. Dude was quite scary right then. He left me standing there with my arms guarding my face. I heard him mumbling something about being sick and tired of my wayward and contrary ways and some other ancient descriptions for my behavior. It wasn't long before I heard Mama trying to convince him not to hit me with that strap. They exchanged a few choice words and the next thing I knew Mama dashed into the kitchen with Dad hot on her trail.

Mama blocked Dad's path to me and I had no problem hiding behind her skirt tail. My Dad made direct eye contact with me and I felt like a criminal. He was pissed!

"Esme." He started. The calmness in his voice was eerie. "Esme, I really need for you to move sweetheart."

Mama shook her head and began pleading my case. "Carlisle, I know what he did was wrong. He not only lied to you but he lied to me as well. We will punish him, but this is not the way."

Pops never dropped his gaze from mine. My butt was his and he'd made it his private mission to tear it outta the frame. "Esme, dear, I'm asking you to move. Please."

She shook her head again. "Carlisle, please." She begged and shielded me with her arms as I ducked behind her slender back. This had to be a sight to see. My frame was much larger than Mama's, but I needed her protection right then.

"Move, Esme!" He said firmly, barely raising his voice.

"No!" She defied him. He inched closer to her face but she didn't back down. "You are too angry to touch this boy right now!" I saw sparks fly from Dad's nose. "You will hurt him too badly. You need to calm down."

It appeared that my father considered her words, but before I knew what was happening, he had picked her up and moved her behind him. In one shift move he'd removed my little inhuman shield, and rocked my world. I was totally not expecting what was about to come next.

"Carlisle, no!" Mama shouted from behind him. She tried to grab him but he spun to face her with ice in his eyes this time. He was not playing and something told me that I should probably haul ass right then. He was going to give me the beat down of the century.

And that's exactly what I did…well tried to do. I don't know what part of my brain decided that I could get past Hercules, but boy did it fail me. My Pops caught me as I tried to jump past him, causing us both to crash into the refrigerator. Right about this time my siblings, including my Rosie, came filing into the house. I instantly heard Rosie hissing and growling. This was about to get nasty.

I was strong…really strong, but my Pops was ten times stronger than I was. He totally ignored Rosie who, though her protective instinct kicked in, knew better than to interfere. Besides Jasper and Alice was blocking her. Dad pinned me to the newly dented fridge with his arms. There was no way I was even going to attempt to put of a fight. He would surely kick my ass.

"Bad move, Emmett." He spat. "Since you want to behave childishly, I'm going to treat you like a child."

I heard Alice gasp when she caught a grim vision of my dark, bleak future. I managed to catch the look of horror on Eddie's face as he read Pops' mind, and I saw Jasper's face twist like he was sucking on lemons. There was an insane mix of anger from Pops—rage in Rosie's case, sadness and disbelief from Mama, and fear from me.

_This is completely off the chain!_

Mama was at his side again, grabbing his bicep. As if shaken out of his reverie, he turned to face her. "Carlisle, please don't do this." She pleaded. "Please. Just go outside and calm down. Take Jasper and Edward with you and go hunting, but please don't take your anger out on him like this. You will regret losing your temper. You can punish him later."

_Thank you God for my Mama!_

The two of them communicated silently with their eyes for a moment and then my Dad's compassion and common sense won him over. My ass was delivered, at least for the moment. He sighed and relented to her request. His face was flushed and he was definitely hurt but more so embarrassed by losing it the way he did. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned towards me. For several minutes that kitchen was way too quiet. If I tried hard enough I could hear a pin dropping in the woods. No one dared to move as they waited to see how my father would respond.

He sighed and the look of disappointment in his eyes almost killed me. "Emmett, you lied to me. You betrayed my trust in you and you disobeyed me." He pressed his chest firmly against mine until our bodies were flushed. I heard the refrigerator buckling behind our combined weight. "You could have been harmed."

I swallowed. I had no clue about what he was going to do next.

"You will _not_ do this again." He spat. He backed off me and I was shaking…literally. He reached for the strap off the countertop and I heard everyone gasp. He held onto it and rolled up his sleeves. He backed away from me about two feet and put a barstool between us. "Come here, Emmett."

_Right here? Right now? In front of everybody? Hell naw! _

"Dad, I-"

"Emmett, please don't make me ask you again." So boy was I wrong about him relenting. He was calmer though, definitely not the villain he had been early. I heard Rosie growling. Dad completely ignored her. He understood why she was doing it. To a greater extent, he knew she wasn't dumb enough to try him.

"No. I'm sick of this shit! You don't own me and you can't control what I do!"

There was more gasping from the others, but complete silence from Dad. He rolled his tongue in his cheeks and kept his arms folded over his chest. He dropped his chin to his chest and waited a couple of minutes before offering a word to counter my rebelliousness. His head was dropped and I felt an influx of sadness wash over me as Jazz started 'emotionally puking' on us. My father was saddened by my behavior.

"I'm ain't getting no-"

"Get out." He said almost whispering. Everyone in the room including myself panicked. I must have heard him wrong. _Did he just say what I thought he said?_

"Dad…w-what?" I stammered. There was no way I heard him correctly. Dad would never tell me to leave.

"Carlisle, no." Mama pleaded. "You're asking him to leave?"

He turned to her once again, this time looking at her not through the eyes of a loving husband but as a coven leader. He shook his head at her. "No, Esme. I'm not asking."

He turned back to me and for the first time I was terrified. Pops wanted me to leave the house?

"I'm ordering him to leave my house." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. It was obvious he was grappling with his decision. "I'm done with your disrespectful. You live in my house. I pay the bills here and take care of your-" He balled up his fist. "If you can't submit to my authority and discipline as I see fit, then so be it, but you will leave here."

I stared at him for a moment in the midst of everyone's shocked responses and Mama's incessant objections. God help me but something in me snapped. I was done taking orders from him and I was definitely over him treating me like I was some dumb ass child. I was certainly over him thinking he could beat my ass like I was a baby. Hell no! If he wanted me to leave then that's exactly what I would do.

I stepped to him and got all up in in face. He didn't blink. I threw my hands up. "You want to beat my ass? Boss me around? Fucking tell me what to do?"

"Emmett." My mother chastised. I ignored her.

"Piss off Carlisle. I'm outta here." I backed away from him, feeling pure rage but very hurt that he was asking me to leave. I wanted to cry but my pride wouldn't let me. I wanted to hug him, but my manhood blocked me. I wanted to laugh and play with him, but my dignity had other plans. No. He didn't want me, and I wasn't even trying to stay where I wasn't wanted. Jazz was still throwing up and making a dire situation worse. Pops looked very sad and disappointed, but he remained firm.

"Emmett, don't leave." Mama pleaded. "Just go to your room until everything blows over."

Carlisle spun around and seethed his next words to her. It was obvious that he was conflicted between being a father, husband, and coven leader. When he spoke his word, there was no mistake to everyone which role won. "Esme dear, when I give an order it stands." She put her hand over mouth and tears overflowed like rivers from her eyes."

"Carlisle, I didn't mean to overstep. I just know that everyone is upset and if things settle down, we can work this all out."

He kept his back to me and his focus on her. He loved Mama and I knew that he would never harm her in any way. It must have been killing him to exercise his command over her, but if we were all truthful, he had to. He was the coven leader and it always came back to his word.

"Emmett, you will either submit to my authority or get the hell out of my house."

"Fine." I said basically to his back. "But you turn around and watch me walk out that door." Dammit he was going to face me. He wanted me to leave, so he wasn't going to yellow-back me on this one.

_Coward!_

Of course the mighty Carlisle Cullen wasn't going to be told what to do. He never turned around to face me. He looked around at the rest of the family and absorbed their hurt from all this. I felt terrible, even though I was knew I was about to give him what he asked for. He folded his arms and kept his head bowed and walked upstairs to his room without another word.

I watched him disappear upstairs and turned to look at my family. They all knew I was about to leave and Rosie came over to where I was standing.

"Emmy, where will you go?" She asked softly. "If you go, I'll go."

"NO!" Esme came to stand in front of us. "No. No one is leaving."

"Mama it's done. Carlisle spoke his word and I'm outta here."

"Emmy." Mama pleaded. "Emmy please don't leave. Please."

I stared at her for a moment, and then kissed her tenderly on her cheek. She knew I was leaving. "Emmy…" More tears flooded her cheeks. "Emmy baby please don't break my heart like this."

I wiped my eyes again. "I wasn't the one who broke it Mama."

With that I looked sadly at my three sibs again and turned on my heels and left with Rosie behind me. I stopped at the door. "Rosie, you can't go with me."

"Like hell I can't." She refused. "I told you. If you leave, I leave."

"Rosie it will be safer and better for you if you stay here. I will be okay."

She boldly stood in front of me with her arms crossed and I knew there was no use in arguing with her. So I didn't. I opened the door and ran until I was miles away from the house. Rosie, my mate, was at my side.

We eventually stopped running and sat for a moment without a clue of what to do or where to go next. I looked at her and for the first time since we'd been out here felt afraid for her. Could I really take care of her? Carlisle had always done very well of taking care of both of us. What would we do? Where would we go? This was no place for her. Rosie was a princess not a nomad. She wasn't used to living like this. Hell I wasn't either. We'd both been under the protection of Carlisle since we'd been turned. What a mess!

"Emmy it's okay. Daddy is just mad right now. He will calm down and come looking for us." She pulled me into a hug. "You'll see."

I hugged her back. "Rosie, you're wrong this time." She pulled back so she could look at me. She looked confused. "Carlisle isn't coming. He wants to be right. He wants to rule and control every single little thing we do, and he's trying to prove a freakin' point. He ain't coming for us. You should have stayed at the house. Now you're out here and I'm feeling some kinda old way right now. You would have been safer with Carlisle."

"Emmy don't started talking nonsense. I'll be alright. I'm tough. Besides I know you got my back."

"Yeah." I hugged her again. "Oh God Rosie. This is such a mess. I lied to you, to Mom…to Carlisle. Now we're out here. We've left our family." I sighed. We needed to find shelter for the night. If I knew Carlisle as well as I thought I did, he was worrying himself sick by now. He was probably feeling he had to be tough on me, but he was fully aware that we were out of his safety. Maybe Rosie was right. Maybe he would come looking for us. Maybe Mama would talk him into coming. I was sure Alice was watching us and keeping them alert. She would know if something was happening. Maybe I should have taken that whipping like a man and been through with this.

Rosie and I decided to run further into a few more towns and we were deep into the forest by the time it got dark out. It was a good thing we didn't need to sleep, but Rosie needed to hunt and I could use a good drink myself. We were both feeling down and not much up for conversation so we hunted in silence. I could tell Rosie wanted to go home but she felt more compelled to stay with me. This was just a stupid thing to do. I knew that.

We settled under a brush for the night and tried to do that relaxing thing that Pops taught us to do. I missed him already. I loved my Pops and I knew he loved me. He always had. I missed my Mom too and Eddie, Jazz, and Alice something fierce. I wanted to go home too. Rosie was "drifting" off and I watched her like a hawk. I wasn't going to let her out of my sight out here. I knew those punk vampires were out here and there was no way I would let her wonder off without me. I had to keep my eyes on her.

Soon darkness was thick like a leather glove over the still night. It started raining and we were getting wet. Rosie got up and ran towards a bunch of nothing, yelling something about her hair and makeup and then screaming at me for being stupid. I knew it wouldn't take long for her to realize or at least verbalize that I had dragged her into some mess.

"Idiot!" She screamed back at me as I watched her run towards an abandoned house. I knew she loved me. If she didn't there was no way in hell she would be out here like this. Neither one of us had thought to bring a cell phone or money. Like I said, this was just a jacked up, dumb ass idea from the start.

Rosie had already reached the house so I decided to go ahead and follow her. I moved away from the brush and started towards the house. Yeah tomorrow we're going back home and I will apologize to Dad and we can make up and all. I couldn't have Rosie out here. That's what I kept telling myself but truthfully I didn't like being away from my Dad. I missed him too much. I just wished I had brought my cell phone so I could call him just to tell him how sorry I was and how much I loved him.

I walked a little further and ducked behind a tree and instantly regretted it. I fell into some type of hole and it was dark as a son of a gun in it.

"What the hell?"

Judging by how long I was falling I imagined I had fallen about ten feet. That shouldn't have been difficult for me to climb out of, but I watched as the door closed and I heard it lock. I also heard shrill laughter and voices above ground. Good thing I didn't need to breath. I would have suffocated.

"What the hell? Hey! Hey! Let me out of here!" I tried jumping up to the door but it was no use. It was steel and locked and obviously stiffed tight. Somebody had dug a hole to trap someone? That didn't make sense. "What the hell?" I yelled again. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

I tried jumping a few more times. "Rosie! Rosie!" It was no use. She wouldn't hear me down here. Wait! She would. She had supersonic hearing. I kept calling her name. She would come find me. "Rosie!"

_Wait, no Emmett, no dammit! Don't call her. Don't call her. She'll forget about that hair in a minute and come looking for you. What if those guys do something to her? She will fight back. She will try to defend you. She will get hurt. Dammit!_

"Emmy!" Dammit! "Emmett where are you? I heard you calling me. Stop playing around Emmett." What the hell? She's out here now. I might as well keep calling her. I was sure whoever was out there had seen or at least smelled her by now, and had no doubt previously set this trap…maybe to trap a human for prey or something. Why they would need to was beyond me. I dunno. I was sure they knew we were vampires, so why would they trap us?

"Rosie, I'm down here. Somebody locked me in here and I can't get out." I yelled.

"Emmy, I hear you. I'm gonna try to pop the lock."

"Okay." I yelled back. "Rosie be careful. There's someone up there!"

Silence.

"Rosie!" I called to her.

Silence.

"ROSIE!" I tried jumping again but this time the door didn't budge at all. In fact it felt heavier as if someone had set something on it. "ROSIE, CAN YOU HEAR ME!" I kept jumping.

Silence.

I couldn't hear Rosie anywhere. I panicked as the realization came to me that whoever was up there had taken Rosie.

"ROSALIE!" It was no use. She was gone. I felt around me but all I could feel was a huge wall of dirt all around me. Jumping was futile.

"Oh, God. Oh, God. Rosie. Oh, God. Alice please see this." We were so far away from the house by now since we'd been running all day. Even if they came it would take hours for them to get to us. Rosie could be long gone by then.

"Oh God what have I done? My Rosie. My Rosie. What have I done?"

I sank to the ground and cried and scream out loud for Rosie and my Dad.

No one came.

I screamed louder for my Dad. He didn't hear me.

I tried digging my way through but the ground was too hard. It hadn't been raining long enough for it to make a differnece. It was no use. I was able to punch a little but it seemed to start caving so I stopped. After a while, I heard some shuffling around up there and I heard the door being unlocked. I wasted no time. It was hard to jump and maintain my grip on the slick surface of the dirt but I managed. Once I got to the door it was quite weighted and hard to push open but I managed to get it opened. Before I could pull myself out, I felt my arm being ripped. As the rogues pulled me out of the hole, I felt my arm dangling at my side. They meant to handicap me. Before I could react, they did the same thing to my leg. I fell to ground and wailed loudly from the pain of it. I was in so much pain, I couldn't see straight. I tried to get away by dragging my body but it was no use. My appendages were limp and still connected, but they were no use to me. The same legs and arms that I'd used to break my grounding and go dancing at that club, now lay lifelessly connected to me by a thin strand of muscle. Venom was seeping.

"What the hell? Who-Who are you? Where's Rosie?" I asked and was kicked in the side by one of the men. "AW…"

They laughed and kicked me some more. I felt them punching me hard in the face, hard enough for them to break the skin. I healed quickly but there was no way I could self-mend my arm and leg. I needed help. I needed my Dad. He would know what to do. I felt them sitting me upright and when they did the pain in my leg and arm was nothing compared to the pain in my heart when I saw that there were three guys holding my Rosie in a vice grip. She was struggling but it was useless. She couldn't get away if she tried. They also had some kind of gagging device over her mouth. I guess they figured she would crush it with her teeth if they put it inside her mouth, and if three of them weren't holding her, she would probably have kicked some serious ass.

"Rosie!" I called. I saw fear in her eyes as she tried to break free. It was pointless. I couldn't even stand up. They knew they had to handicap me like this in order to keep me subdued. There were five men total and the smug look on their faces told me the outcome of this would not be good.

"W-What do you guys want?" I asked. "Leave her alone!" I yelled.

One of the guys knelt in front of me and smugly patted my cheek. "Oh you're about to find out big boy." The others laughed and I saw them drag Rosie to the ground. Fear had overtaken her as she kicked and tried to scream. All I could was cry when I saw thick curdles of venom pouring out of her eyes.

"NO!" I tried to move but the son of bitch stomped my leg. "AH!" I was pushed violently to the ground and one of them grab my head and forced me to look in Rosie's direction. At that moment, all I could think about was what Rosie happened to her the night Pops found her. I tried to squirm free but it was no use. They were about to seriously hurt her and make me watch.

"NO!" I screamed when one of the two near me went to join them. I watched as two held her arms and the other held her leg as one knelt in front of her and held her other leg. "NO!"

_Oh God. No. This cannot be happening. What have I done? _I cried and struggled in vain as I watched them struggling with her clothing. I couldn't help her and it was only at that moment that I realized this was worse than any punishment Carlisle could ever give me.

I knew I was helpless and couldn't help her. She was still trying to fight and thank God for those tricky clothes of hers because it was quite difficult for them to do what they intended…at least right away. The guy next to me ripped the hand on my good arm and forced me flat on my back. He left me to join the others after he say them struggling.

I could barely lift my head and turn towards the ripping sound of Rosie's clothes, when I heard that voice. It was the voice that had comforted me more times than I could count. It was the voice that had laughed with me and had accused me of cheating at stupid X-Box games. It was the voice that sang and cried with me and told me I was loved more than anything. It worried about my safety and scolded me when I was wrong, and yes had asked me to leave his home only hours ago.

It was the voice of the man who loved me more than I loved myself. It belonged to my Dad.

"Get off of her or you will all die."

Dad was fierce and unwavering. There was nothing cowardly about him. Alice must have told him about this which meant these guys had seen us out here earlier in the day and decided their little evil plan then. They probably left the house immediately and that's how they got here in the knick of time. I knew my Pops wouldn't abandone us. He had too much love in him for that.

Dad's back was turned away from me, but I knew he was worried about me too. The men laughed at him, and continued to hold Rosie. The one that was trying to attack her stood to his feet and stalked toward my Pops.

"And just _who's_ going to kill us?" The jerk asked. He pointed towards my Dad. _"You?"_

Dad didn't budge. He was completely fearless. "Get off of her or you will all die." He repeated.

The guy laughed but the others looked a little afraid.

"So you and what army is going to stop us?" He asked thinking he had the upper hand.

It was at that moment that the rest of my family stepped out of the shadows at Dad's command. The four guys immediately let Rosie go and backed away towards the woods. Rosie broke the gagging thing off of her mouth and blurred towards me forgetting about her attackers. My family stalked towards them but they stopped when Dad raised his hand.

"Oh God Emmy." Rosie cried, examining my injuries. My dad heard her but didn't take his eyes off the perpetrator in front of him. He must have been their leader.

"Fellows, don't run from _this."_ He laughed and waved his arm up and down in front of my Dad as if to highlight some weakness. He laughed and turned toward them and that was his biggest mistake yet. Dad instantly pinned him to the ground as the other Cullens immediately guarded him in front.

The guy laughed. "Oh come on. Don't be like that. I'll share her with you." He laughed again. "She is a sweet little piece isn't she?"

Dad punched the guy several times and I heard his face cracked. He managed to stand up but Dad kicked him so hard, I bet he was wishing Pops could knock him out. The guy crashed into a tree causing it to crack in the middle. He looked like he wanted to retreat, but decided to stay and fight. His friends stayed put, not sure what my family was capable of doing to them. The guy charged Pops, but Jazz sent him some kind of influx, 'cause I felt it too. That must have made him weak 'cause my Dad jumped and caught him by his throat in the air and slammed him to the ground nearly crushing his skull. His friends were obviously scared.

"Alright, alright. You can have her first. I won't even let the other guys touch her." The guy managed with a weak, crushed laugh.

Dad picked him up again and dropped him a second time. In that weird British accent of his, he said. "Now I'm going to have to stomp that ass!"

A/N: Please review.


	7. Chapter 7 Rough Lessons Part II

Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me…although Carlisle thinks he does…lol…The story is mine…and the errors. This chapter has not been beta'd yet because I wanted to go ahead and publish and not keep everyone waiting.

A/N: Wow that last chapter was a bit rough. I don't think that Carlisle really thought that Emmett would leave, or if he did he would come back home. He regrets losing his temper and slapping him. He apologizes for that. Well Carlisle has promised that little rugged nomad a serious ass whoopin' and I think he is about to get just that. Hang on for the ride because Emmett's Confession is about to get popping over the next few chapters.

Thanks for all of your reviews.

Carlisle's POV

I had never considered myself to be a violent man, but protecting my family was always at the forefront of my sense of right and wrong. I never applauded fighting, but make no mistake about it; just because I didn't fight, didn't mean I couldn't. Seeing my Rosie lying helplessly on the ground at the mercy of these brutes brought back a surge of painful memories that I wasn't prepared to revisit. It didn't help that Jasper was emitting a very strong accumulation of rage, trepidation, and pain from my children. That was mortifying, but it was the disgusting billows of sexual desire for my baby girl pouring off of these deprived beasts that sent my mind into annihilation mode. No one bothered my children. No matter how much wrong they did and how much agony they caused me, they were still mine and I'd be damned if some pathetic degenerates would harm them like this without consequence.

I was proud to be allied with Edward, Jasper, Esme, and Alice. They would stand by me no matter what and so would Em and Rose, but I'd size this son of bitch up from the moment I stepped into this soggy meadow. Destroying him was gravy and while I appreciated the show of strength and support from my family, I had this one signed, sealed, and delivered before we even started to fight. Now as he continued to express his vileness and ungodly desire for my princess, I adjusted my neck and squared off to stick my foot up his ass.

As my family shielded me from the other men who seemed more afraid than brave, the two of us prepared to battle until the end. This rugged nomad had made his intentions quite clear and had laid all of his cards on the table. He couldn't have cared less about Emmett. He was useless to him. He was after one thing, and even after I had given him an opportunity to leave Rose alone and leave, he made it blatantly obvious that he wanted something that he was too ignorant to realize he'd never have the pleasure of enjoying. He would never put his slime anywhere near my baby again.

"Dad! Oh Go-od! Da-ad, please! It hurts so bad!" Emmett cried out to me. "Ahh, Go-od." He was panicking and in tears, bawling as Rosie tried to comfort him as best she could. Esme was on the brink of insanity because she couldn't get to him right away. Jasper was letting us all know just how much Em was hurting. Edward and Alice were both trembling, but trying to maintain their valiant positions. I knew this would affect them like this. How could it not? We were family and we loved each other more than anything. Just as we shared each other's joy and happiness, we shared the pain as well.

I'd been in enough fights to know never to take my eyes off of my opponent. It wounded my heart to hear the sound of my son calling out to me like that, and not be able to rush to his side to help him. I fought desperately to contain my own emotions of fear and sorrow. I didn't want this guy to misinterpret my love for my son as weakness. Keeping my focus on the people out here with death wishes, I tried to verbally comfort my child from my current position. "It's alright, Em. Let me take out the trash and I promise I will be there for you shortly."

"It hurts." His feeble moaning broke my heart again. "Ahhh."

"I know it does, and I cannot tell you how sorry I am that this has happened." The jerk in front of me laughed, obviously amused by this display. I kept my eyes glued on him. "I love you, Em. It will be alright, son."

The futility of this fight made my gut ache. I despised taken another's person life, even though they may deserve it. It was appalling that I even had to resort to this. This man would die today, but I couldn't feel any sympathy for him. Not after what he'd done to my children. I controlled myself as he and I began to circle each other. In the midst of my emotional concoction, another emotion reared its head. Guilt. I was unequivocally and totally responsible for this mess. I refocused myself and chose to block the guilt I'd been feeling since my children had walked out of my home at my own request. I shut down the overwhelming feeling of despair that I'd been experiencing since Alice told us about these rogue visitors attacking them.

"You really don't think you can beat me, do you?" He taunted. "I mean, unless you allow _them_ to pick up your weight." He smirked. "Either way, I'm good. I still had a chance to feel a little bit of that sweet pie over there."

I growled in warning. This chap was really getting on my nerves, and was in desperate need of tow. I adjusted my neck again and stopped circling him. This time my back was turned away from Esme and the kids, and we had a clear shot of Rose and Emmett lying on the ground. I nearly lost it when I saw my boy busted like that. I quickly pulled myself together before this punk had a chance to jump me.

"I should have killed him and ran off with that sweet cherry when I had a chance. I could have been tapping that—"

That was it. I released a guttural growl and poised myself for attack.

"Nolan! Dude let's just go. She ain't worth all of this shit." One of his comrades called to him. He knew very well what was about to go down. "Let's ride man."

He held his hand up to scared buddy. "Not before I have me a _nice little_ bonfire."

"Seriously, man, do you think they are going to let you do that?" He asked. "Let's bounce."

"Shut up Ryan!"

Ah…There it was. This gormless blighter was starting to become frazzled. His breakdown was going to make this victory so much easier...and sweeter.

"Nothing to worry about here." He mocked. "Surely we can mop the forest with _this_." He waved his arm around to indicate that he was talking about all of us. He was feigning confidence. I saw right through his act. "Maybe when I finish this off _nancy_, we can do the rest of them and then take our sweet piece back to our dens." He laughed out loud. "Boys, I'll bet she tastes as good as she looks."

_This ridiculous nutter just called me a nancy. Really? Do I look extremely effeminate or homosexual? Not that I'm bothered or appalled by anyone's sexual preference, but now he's really begging for that ass whipping!_

"He'd better kill me because I promise I will track the little slice of heaven every day of my life."

That did it. I'd had enough of this frivolous talking. I growled and lunged towards him. He rushed me, but I sprang almost fifteen feet in the air and landed behind him. There was snarling and growling as the two of us began to wrestle for dominance, thus the victory. My wife and children held their posts. They were ready for battle with the other men, but at the same time concerned for my safety. I managed to see Esme's face as she saw Nolan grab my head. I gave her a look that clearly read_, "Don't worry babe, I'm about to spank some ass." _ She nodded and held her position. Even though I was in the middle of a fierce struggle with this wandering idiot, I noticed that Emmett's cries were becoming fainter. He needed my help and needed venom and blood right away. He was becoming weaker and weaker with each passing minute. Rose was holding his head in her lap and kept telling him everything was going to be okay.

I'll admit that Nolan was strong, but he was no match for my strength. My compassionate human nature wanted to simply subdue him and let him loose after a good lecture, but my feral inhuman nature wanted to rip his ass to shreds because he was a very present threat to my family. He _had_ to die-_especially_ after the threat he'd just made about tracking my princess. I couldn't have her safety compromised like that. No. He would die. That was all there was to it.

I couldn't feel compassion right then. Compassion would be the death of me and possibly members of my family. I mentally let Carlisle Cullen go and succumbed to the raw beast inside of me. I growled loudly and instantly became unaware of my surroundings as I zeroed in on the enemy before me. He was more than a threat. He was a villain who threatened to take away everything that was precious to Carlisle. His beautiful wife, his offspring, his entire life was being threatened and the beast in me _had_ to win this battle for Carlisle.

…and that is exactly what he did.

The beast, which was my real nature, was one that I fought _so_ hard to suppress, and was the one who had taken my soul, the very thing that I'd argued with my sweet Bella about possessing. It roared to life as I sprang once again to dodge his blow. I landed gracefully on my feet behind him and grabbed his head in a vice grip headlock. The beast inside me was trying to crush his skull and was raging as it tried to desperately keep Carlisle Cullen's compassion at bay.

Nolan screamed as the feral beast continued to apply pressure to his face. The force was great and I knew it wouldn't be long before this battle was won.

"You…." I started. He managed to tangle his legs in mine and we fell to the ground. I maintained my vice grip and pinned his sorry ass to the ground.

"….you…messed…with…the…wrong…family…you sorry mother-"

He growled loudly and drowned my words. He was trying his best to rid himself of my death grip but it was pointless. The beast was too great and it would only be minutes before we would be burning him to purple smoke and ashes. He snarled and shrieked in sheer agony as his neck began to crack under the pressure and force of my grip. I heard the steel, cold tendons in his neck ripping as I tried to separate his head from his body. The beast had to once again resist Carlisle Cullen's compassionate nature and the overwhelming feeling to save this crap's life and to keep his wife and children from witness this side of him. In the end the beast would win. It was inevitable.

He tried to grab anything he could on my body but that proved to be an enormous mistake. The next sound everyone heard was the sound of my free hand severing his arm completely from his body. The sound it made was like steel being shredded. He howled as the torture of my dismemberment rush his body. Surprisingly he remained quite strong and the beast gave way to Carlisle's rational thought. I briefly wondered why Jasper wasn't interfering in an attempt to help me. I glanced up briefly and caught him looking at me. While he was nervous, he gave me that look of pure unadulterated confidence. My valiant soldier had faith that his father and coven leader would to handle this little nuisance. I couldn't let him down.

The beast roared to life again as the nomad underneath me curled defensively in self-preservation. He knew his time was near. In one final maneuver, I disjointed his neck and pulled his head from his body. He instantly began to go limp underneath me, his body was jerkin in response to the loss of its most vital member.

I looked up and was met with startled eyes just mere feet away. Not only were the nomads afraid and surprised, but my family was stunned as well. When the other men saw what had happened to their mate, they decided to run. Eventually they all disappeared into the thicket and my family rushed to my side.

"Boys, Alice, I need for you to finish this. Clean this up and burn the pieces, I have to get to Em." I told them.

"Yes, Sir." They said in unison and went to work. As I heard the familiar sound of more limbs being ripped and spine being cracked, I rushed to my son. Esme had already joined Rose's side. Emmett had loss an incredible amount of venom and animal blood. His condition was dire.

"Esme, baby, get my backpack over there." After Alice had described her vision to me, I had immediately gone to work packing a portable IV and several bags of animal blood and venom-serum that we kept stored in a special freezer for cases of emergency. A regular hospital IV needle wouldn't have penetrated his skin, but since his wounds were open, I could inject the IV internally to get the fluids flowing into his body. That should work. After all, animal blood flowed freely along with venom in our bodies anyway.

Since Emmett shared my immortal DNA, I had taken the time to withdraw a few tubes of fresh venom from my body so that I could use it in the reattachment of his limbs. Thank God I'd had the presence of mind years ago to learn how to extract venom with out the use of human needles. My venom would make him stronger and work more efficiently. If I ran out, I would go the old-fashioned route. If that still wasn't enough, I would call on Esme, Edward, and Rose since they also shared my venom. I had also packed a few other essentials. Esme handed me the bag and I immediately went to work.

"Dad…" He murmured. I had to fight to keep from breaking down in tears at the pitiful sight before me. I was used to witnessing all types of trauma and dealing with life-threatening situations, but seeing how my own child…my big strong bear…was in excruciating pain and begging for me to make it stop was gastly. I truly believed that if I were human, I would have died right then. It hurt more than anything to see him like this and I quickly went into physician mode and temporarily blocked out everything and everyone but Emmett for a moment. I had one purpose and that was to save my son's life.

"Dad…" His eyes were pitch black. He was barely moving and venom tears slowly trickled down the sides of his forehead.

_Oh Lord please give me strength. He's not calling me Pops or joshing around. He's ailing very badly and I have to do something. He's counting on me._

"I'm right here son. I'm right here." I reassured him while I made quick work of my hands. "I'm going to make it better, Em. Dad will make it better. I promise. Don't worry."

I tried not to panic, but my calmness was slipping with the realization that I could lose my son. While vampires generally healed quickly even after limbs were severed, they could still die if proper and immediate action wasn't taken to restore them back to health. In Emmett's case, they'd made sure they'd severed vital arteries to ensure he would lose the most venom and blood sooner. Had I not brought along extra venom and medical supplies, he wouldn't have made it.

"Dad it…ahhhhh." He cried out as I set up his IV with the blood and some venom-serum in it. I would have to put the venom directly on the bones and muscle tissue in order for them to fuse correctly. They had almost completely destroyed his connective tissue.

_Sorry sons of bitches!_ If I was going to be able to think clearly, I had to control my emotions. I quickly regained my composure.

"Shhh… It's alright Emmy." Rose comforted him. She backed up a little, but continued to hold his head in her lap. "It's alright."

I could hear my other children behind me as the familiar stench of vampire rot filled my nostrils. I worked on Emmett's arm first and began internally reconnecting and sealing with the venom-serum that I kept for these types of accidents because lets face it; my children were _always_ into something, and I could never be too cautious where they were concerned. I secured the IV in the necessary arteries and swabbed a generous amount of the serum along with the fresh venom inside his torn flesh. I gave it a few minutes to start the healing process and carefully monitored it to make sure everything was reconnecting and sealing correctly. When I saw that it was healing properly, I realigned his arm at the proper joint and began the reconnection process from the outside. He let out a blood curdling scream and his mother and wife were immediately consoling him. I swabbed more of the venom and serum on the outside and wrapped it securely in special gauze that I had made for these types of injuries. I'd specially formulated it so that it would sustain even the most toxic venom _and_ teenage vampires. I immediately went to work on his leg as my other children joined me at my side.

"Dad, should we go afta the othas?" That was my soldier. I knew he'd been itching for a fight, but I couldn't allow them to go without me. I had to be here with Emmett and the thought of them going out there to fight alone was terrifying.

"No, son that will be alright. They reeked of fear the entire time. After witnessing their friend's demise, they won't be any trouble. Besides, I don't want to risk you getting hurt." Emmett wailed again as I worked on his severely damaged leg. I apologized to him and offered him words of comfort. "I'm sorry, Buzz. I'm trying to make it better. I'm really sorry to cause you more pain." He seemed to relax as I called him by the little nickname I used for him. All of my boys hated for me to call them baby or anything akin to that terminology, but he didn't seem to object to Buzz. I only used it during the times when we were really bonding or in cases where I wanted to show him my heart and that I was really connecting to him. He understood.

"Dad, I won't git hurt." That was my little blonde soldier again, valiant as ever. "They can't be that far up the road yet. We still got time ta catch'em."

I busied myself with the external swabbing, trying to steady Emmett's leg as his body jerked in agony. "Jasper, I would feel better if you stayed here with me. I don't need you or anyone else in harm's way." I reached for the gauze.

"But Dad, I can take'em." His persistence was noble, but now was not the time to argue with me. "I know what I'm doin.'

I turned toward him, careful not to raise my voice. "Jasper." I said firmly. "I said no. Now please don't ask me again." He looked sadly at his wounded brother and his crying sister, and I knew I'd broken his little southern heart. He wanted to defend his sister's honor and his brother's dignity. He looked like he wanted to cry. "I'm sorry son. I know what you want to do and I can't tell you how proud that makes me, but please just trust me on this." I stroked his cheek with my thumb as he submitted to my request. "It'll be okay. Don't worry."

He nodded and he and Edward began to help me swaddle Emmett's hips in a porous, heavy duty suede-like wrap that I used for mending the wounded vampires in my house. I gave them instructions on how to wrap him and when his joints were tightly secured, I began swabbing more venom into the porous material for additional insurance that he would heal properly. We did the same for his shoulders. The final step was to take the big blanket I brought from the house to wrap him it. That wasn't necessary but Emmett was my baby and I just felt like wrapping him in the damn thing.

Rose moved to the side as I cradled my son in my arms underneath that blanket. Though I was taller than him, his body was larger than mine, but it molded naturally in my waiting arms. He was bandaged so tightly that he could barely move, but that didn't impede upon my ability to hold him just as I did those little infants at Forks General. He was my son, no matter how much he resisted. It didn't even matter that he was a grown man trapped in this body. He was my mine and I loved him. He relaxed his head on my shoulder and no one said a word. We could hear minimal movement in the forest as the wildlife had long fled their very unnatural predators. There was a gentle breeze in the still of the night that was very soothing.

Emmett and I had so many things to resolve but there would be time for all of that. Right now I just wrapped him in my love as he cradled his face in my neck. I bent my head so that my face covered his in a tight little father-son cocoon. We stayed like this for a while and I could feel Jasper calming us and trying to comfort our nerves. It was working. Emmett settled into a comfortable place and finally stopped crying as my venom continued to heal him. It was my venom that gave him life and made him strong, so it stood to reason that it would be my venom that would heal his broken body and sustain him through this painful ordeal. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I felt hot tears trickling down my cheeks as I kissed him tenderly on the top of his head, burying my face in his thick curly hair. My wife came behind me and wrapped one arm around my waist and the other around Emmett's. As she nestled her face against mine, her long caramel hair draped us in sheer love. It was then that my two princesses kneeled and relaxed their heads on my biceps. Edward laid his head one of my thighs and rested his hand on one of Emmett's and Jasper laid his head gently on Em's lap, away from the injured side. We fell into a loving and supportive silence and we all shed tears of love and gratitude for this family we shared. We huddled as close as we could without causing Em any pain, and remained that way for the next few hours. We were in no hurry. Tomorrow would take care of itself, but right then we needed each other more than ever.

Rosie was shaken pretty badly and clinging to me for dear life. Esme took Em from me and I scooped up my princess in my arms. She bawled like a small child but didn't speak. I knew exactly what was on her mind. She was recollecting the night I found her dying in the streets after being brutally attacked by Royce and his hounds.

"Daddy." That one word was the final blow to my heart. I broke down in tears, sobbing as I greedily and remorsefully clutched her to my chest, holding her tight in my strong arms. I was responsible for all of this. This would have never happened if it were not for my own stupidity. I should have never lost my temper the way I did and asked Emmett to leave. I knew Rosie would follow him. I tried to shake this feeling by telling myself that at least she was safe now, but I couldn't. I suddenly felt peace and calm again. Jasper was feeling my guilt and trying his best to help the situation.

"It's alright, princess. Daddy's here."

When Edward saw me crying he came around to where Rose and I were sitting and sat beside us. He wanted to comfort not only me, but Rose as well. He rested his head on my chest and the back of Rose's head, and wrapped one arm behind my back and the other around Rose's torso. Jasper stayed close to his brother to help keep him calm and relaxed and Alice laid her head on Emmett's lap. Our little Cullen clan put the incident leading to this aside momentarily and bonded as a family until daylight began to illuminate the forest.

"We should probably head back." I said and we started to disband. My boys made sure the fire was completely out and cleaned up, and Esme packed my bags. Emmett was well on his way to healing but I didn't trust him trying to bear weight just yet. I scooped him up in my arms and carried the big loaf like I was carrying a feather. Jasper and Edward joined us and we headed back to the place we called home. I knew I would regret my role in this disaster for days to come. As parents, sometimes we make stupid decisions, but we have to learn from our mistakes. All I could hope for was that my children and my family forgave me for this travesty. That's all I could ask of them.

A/N: Well, when Carlisle Cullen makes a promise, he delivers…and the love this man has for his family is something to contend with. Unfortunately there is a hard road ahead. Hopefully things will work out…until the next update.

Please review.


	8. Chapter 8 Where Do We Go From Here?

A/N: Well it is great to be writing once again. It's been a while but I have been living a life that demands so much of me these days. I finally got a breath and decided to update the next chapter of Emmett's Confession. I hope you all enjoy. Reviews are welcomed and encouraging to writers. They also motivate. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Carlisle's POV

The passage of time was usually a dissipating puff of air to people who existed forever, but time was our arch nemesis as we made the journey back home. We'd been traveling for quite a few hours and other than Emmett's cries, we progressed in total silence. By the time we arrived back in Forks, my son was completely exhausted from his injuries. I in turn was drained from that lethal battle with that revolting piece of filth _and_ the entire ordeal. I was still carrying my resilient prince in my arms, though my other two had offered to relieve me and carry him part of the way. They knew I wasn't tired, but they were trying to help. However, I wasn't having that at all. There was no way I was going to be separated from my boy. For my own sanity, I needed to have Emmett attached to me. I couldn't release him.

"Dad." He whispered against my neck. "Dad it hurts so much." He moaned and I felt venom tears lightly grazing my chest as he cried against it.

"I know it does, Buzz." I tried to comfort him. "You're going to be alright. I promise. I'm going to take care of you."

"We're almost home, baby." Esme soothed. "Just a little bit longer."

"Ooh." He whined louder. I slowed my movements to prevent causing him more pain. "Oh, God. It hu-rts." The others slowed down as well.

"It's alright, Em." Edward's voice quivered as he reached over to stroke some hair out of his older brother's face. The love that the kids had revealed to each other throughout this nightmare overwhelmed me. Even now as I saw tears glistening in my youngest son's eyes for his brother, I was reassured that while Emmett was on the mend he had the love of his family to help him along…not that that was ever questionable.

A few tears stung my eyes as I watched Edward's affection for Em. Normally those two were at each other's skulls, and seeing this display was more than admirable. Jasper was projecting everything he could muster to create tranquility and for the most part he was successful. He looked sadly over at me when he felt my pain as did Edward when he intercepted it in my thoughts. They both stopped, and were visibly worried.

"Dad." I was fighting for control as Jasper wiped my face. "Dad, please give Em ta me." He pleaded. I shook my head and tucked my son closer to me as if Jasper was a lurking kidnapper or something. "I know it's hard for ya, so please let me help."

"He's fine." I told him. "I'm good. We are almost home."

Jasper didn't buy it and neither did the others. He reached for his brother, but I stepped back before he could take him from me.

'S'alrite, Dad." He put one arm around Emmett's waist and the other under his legs. "Please. I won't hurt him."

I stared at him, unjustifiably distrusting him. I knew he wouldn't harm him, but he was failing to understand my need to be close to Emmett right then. I'd mailed a personal invitation to thieves to come and nearly take him from me forever. My son…the son of my right hand…was almost demolished right before me because of my own stupidity and indiscretion. I was quite traumatized by that realization and my lips started quivering as I lost the struggle for control.

My perfect vision became clouded with tears and I faintly noticed the seemingly mixed emotions on the faces of my two girls and my wife. Esme looked as if she felt sorry for me, but yet blamed me for this. Alice looked like she wanted to hug me, but my darling Princess Rose looked sad, betrayed, yet grateful. I couldn't be sure of what they were thinking, but I knew they had to be thinking I was slum….a degradation to humanity and our kind. After all, I'd commanded Emmett to leave the safety of the only home he'd ever known, and single handedly delivered him into the hands of ungodly rubbish that cared nothing for his precious life. I looked down lovingly at my son and reluctantly handed him to his brother who, though he was smaller in frame, handled him as a delicate babe. I relaxed when Emmett seemed to settle in Jasper's strong arms, but I couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of guilt.

After several more painstaking miles, we were walking into our living room. We followed Jasper upstairs to Emmett's bedroom and after he'd carefully placed him on the bed, I climbed on the bed beside him.

"How are you feeling, Buzz?" I asked him, easily stroking his matted hair and soiled face. "I'm so, so sorry." I apologized again. I didn't think I would ever be able to tell him that enough. What kind of man would turn his back on his own son? What kind of man would do this horrible thing to his child? I deserved to live with this for the rest of my existence. I certainly didn't deserve his forgiveness, though I prayed genuinely that he would forgive my transgression against him.

He barely looked at me as I stroked his cheek and then the back of his head again. "It hurts like a son of a gun." He whispered. His voice was extremely weak. "And I can't feel my anything in all this Tupperware you got me wrapped up in." I tried to embrace his humor, but failed. My heart was simply too heavy to receive it. "I sure hope this doesn't mess up my 'jewelry box.' I'm sure that won't sit well with Rosie." His eyes drooped with exhaustion and he dropped his forehead against mine. I hugged him close and our faces were mere centimeters apart.

"I sincerely love you, son." I told him. My tears stained his face when my face touched it. "I love you so much."

His breath fell softly on my face. "Pops…" He breathed. "You stomped some…some…" He swallowed. "…some major ass…and…and you're a mush bag." He gave a lifeless laugh and his voice was barely audible when he spoke. "Save…save that for…little…Eddie."

Normally Edward would have had a smart retort, but this time he was so consumed with worry for his big brother that he let it slide. He shrugged his insult off.

"I'm so sorry, Buzz." I repeated my mantra. I kept hugging him to me. "Your Daddy is so sorry that this has happened to you."

"No worries, big Pops." He said feebly. "As soon…" He swallowed again. "…as soon…as…I get better, I'm gone…gonna…open up a…can of whip ass…on…somebody.'

I shook my head and manage a smile. Somehow I knew he was serious. Hell. He'd probably try to track down the rest of that mobile garbage and have one big one-to-four showdown with them.

"Oh Emmett." I pulled him closer. "My Emmett."

"You know what?" He asked.

"What?" I looked up as Esme walked into the room with a basin full of soapy water. She avoided my pleading eyes. She was never going to forgive me. Once again I'd attacked one of her cubs and she was not at all happy about it. God help me. After that fight she and I had about Edward's punishment, I could only imagine what was in store for me.

Edward cleared his throat and I glanced quickly at him.

_Am I right, Edward? _I asked him silently. I knew he'd intercepted her thoughts about this situation.

He shook his head and I felt somewhat better knowing that there wouldn't be another blast out fight like we'd had before. I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn't stand more of that.

"You smoked out there." Everyone laughed. "Ali?"

She giggled. She knew what he was about to ask him.

"…can you get…get… me a shirt that says… my Pops… can kick your Pop's butt?"

I shook my head and laughed softly. "Oh, Em."

"…then I can…wear it…and we can take…take a pic for face…book."

They laughed again, but I just smiled practically to myself. "Oh, Emmett." I repeated.

"Just sayin.' He murmured.

Although Emmett was trying to make light of this situation, I knew he was trying to alleviate some of my guilt. There was no way every person in the room couldn't feel it. Jasper was amplifying it and making it worse.

"Please forgive me." I begged again and again.

"It…was…all…" He coughed and moaned in pain. "God. I never hurt like this."

Esme looked at me and I nodded in understanding. There would be time later for this conversation. Right now, our son needed to 'rest.'

"Em, your mother has prepared a sponge bath for you." I explained. He groaned for at least an entire minute. I couldn't help but laugh out loud…just a little as did everyone else.

"Pops…" He coughed feebly again. "I know…I'm in a bad way…but ain't…ain't no _way_ Mama…is…washin'…my…my goods! I'd rather… be back…in the woods."

I permitted myself to laugh again. "…I think she will do just fine, son." I teased.

"Po-ops…." He whined.

My family joined in the laughter. "Oh, Buzz." I stood up and took the basin from Esme and sat it on his night stand. "I think we'll let Rosie do the honors."

He didn't look up but laughed softly. "Much better choice, however Rosie would you be mad at me if I want Dad to do it?"

I looked over at my beautiful princess. She smiled and sat down beside him. "Of course not, but can you guys give us a few minutes first and then Daddy can come back in?"

"Sure princess." We all left the room so they could be alone. When we got outside in the hall I looked around at the rest of my family.

"I'm so sorry." Was all I could say to them. I mean what else could I say?

"It's okay, Daddy." Alice reassured me. "It will all be alright." I wasn't sure if or how she could see anything because at the moment my own mind wasn't clear and I couldn't formulate a thought well enough to pull anything coherent together for her to get a clear picture of the future.

Edward hugged me tightly.

"Dad, when everythin' settles, we kin all talk 'bout what happened and work it all out." It was Jasper's turn to hug me. "We're family, Dad. Em is home and we're all here. It will be just fine, you'll see."

My children were my life. Gifts from God above. They meant the world to me and right then, they were what I needed. I looked up and saw Esme looking at me. Part of her looked sympathetic, but part of her looked sad…almost disappointed that I allowed this to happened. I felt Edward squeeze me tighter when he intercepted that thought. I felt him shaking his head again to tell me I was thinking all wrong again. Maybe she wasn't as angry as I thought she was.

"I'm sorry, Esme." I apologized to her again and she nodded. Rosie came out of the room and I kept my eyes on my beautiful wife. "I'm sorry."

"He's all yours." Rosie said and my kids let me go. I released my gazed from Esme and pulled my princess to me. She hugged me, but quickly pulled away. While the look she gave me was not one of hate, it was very similar to the one her mother was giving me.

"I'm sorry baby girl." Solemn tears fell down her face. She seemed torn between trying to be angry with me for my part in this travesty and trying to show me love.

"Me too." She started sobbing and covered her face with her hands. I reached for her but she pulled away from me again. Shaking her head, she ran down the stairs.

"I got her Dad." Edward said. "Take care of Em."

I nodded and he left. Esme turned as well and walked down the hall to our bedroom. I started after her but Jasper stopped me. "It's okay Dad. Let me talk ta her."

I could hardly contain myself as I watched my son follow his mother to comfort her. I stared after them until they were behind closed doors and was faintly aware that my other princess was hugging me.

"Daddy, we will get through this." Alice repeated Jasper's words. She held my face between her delicate hands. "Everything will be alright. Mom and Rosie are upset but everything will be just fine. Trust me."

I nodded doubtfully and wiped my face. I exhaled and thanked her for her kindness.

"Go take care of Emmy. He needs you the most right now. I'm going to find Edward and Rosie."

I nodded again.

"Trust me Daddy. Everything will be fine." With that she skipped downstairs to find her siblings.

I stared at my bedroom door and was kicked in the gut when I heard my sweetheart crying her heart out to our son. What a mess I'd created.

I opened the door to Emmett's room and walked over to his bed. I was really amazed that he wanted me to give him his bath and not Rosie. Normally that would have been the kiss of death and I would have been sprayed with the black plague for even _thinking _about going anywhere near him with a bath cloth. I understood why he wanted me to do it though. He needed reassurance that I still loved and wanted him in my life. He wanted me to be near him.

"'S'Okay, Pops." He said. "All of this is my fault."

I walked over to the basin and squeezed the cloth so I could wash his face. I helped him sit upright on the bed and sat next to him. "Not all of it." I admitted as I started gently cleaning his soiled face with the tenderness that he needed his father to give him.

"Yes, I caused it. I lied…you gave me a concussion…then gave me your boot."

"A concussion, Em?" I rolled my eyes. "Really?"

"That's…how…I remember-Dad!" He groaned loudly as I began to check his bandages. "Oh God it hurts."

"I'm sorry." I apologized to him. "I know this hurts but I need to change out the bandages and remove your dirty clothes so that I can make sure everything is okay and bathe you."

He winced and groaned louder when I picked him up and laid him down flat on the bed. I was trying to be gentle, but I knew that no matter what the movement, he would feel every bit of what I was doing to him. I decided to remove the bandages around his arms first. Vampires were speedy healers and I was pleased to see that after removing his stained shirt, my venom remedy was indeed sealing his open wounds. Once I had completely removed the bandages, I carefully took one of his strong but very weak arms in my hands. He looked at me with fear in his eyes, but yet so much trust…and love. I smiled at him and though he didn't return it, I felt so much love for him right then.

As I began my examination, I was careful to keep him as calm as possible and my movements fluid to minimize the pain. "You know, Buzz, I broke my arm once when I was a lad." He whined a little when I lifted his arm for further examination. "I'd always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. That particular day my mission was to land on the moon."

He laughed feebly at me. "This ought to be good."

I chuckled softly and moved to the other arm. "At any rate, I decided that the moon would be imagined and the roof of our home was going to be the surface of the moon in which I was to land."

He laughed and complained from the painful movement of his arm.

"Don't laugh, buster. That plan was ingenious."

He laughed again but it quickly dissolved and was followed by a wail when I rotated his arms.

"Shh…it's alright, Buzz." His body trembled in pain. I slowed my ministrations to give him time to adjust. Once he settled down, I continued with caution. "My father was always telling me to stop jumping off of things. But did I listen? No I did not. That particular day I decided that my room was my spaceship and the window was the gate to the moon. I jumped and somehow lost my footing and landed on my arm causing it to break in two spots."

"Didn't have to be a rocket scientist to see that one coming." He mocked.

I smiled at him. "You better be glad you're in pain. Otherwise I would be so inclined to cause you a little."

His laugh was so weak that it broke my heart. I carefully began to remove the bandages from his hips. He nearly jumped off of the bed and I had to hold him down.

"Da—ad!" He yelped.

"I'm sorry Buzz. I'm so sorry."

Tears fell rapidly from his eyes. "Dad!"

With every cry he made, I could hear Esme crying down the hall for him. It was natural that she would feel his pain. She was his mother. How could she not?

I made quick work of removing the rest of the bandage amidst his suffering and stopped long enough to give him time to calm down again. I held him still in my arms and he cried out as the searing pain hit him. God this was killing me.

Shortly thereafter, I began to remove his tattered jeans so I could examine him. He didn't even try to fight me. Normally he would have been fighting mad at me for even _thinking _about seeing him close to or actually naked. He was crying so much that I decided it would be better to just tear them off of him so I slowly tore them at the side seams and gently removed the material from him, exposing his soiled boxers.

"Oh, God." I grunted almost to myself when I saw his wounds. I was almost about to lose the battle to keep my control when my son reach out and grabbed my wrist. I turned to face him with sheer desperation in my eyes. His tears matched mine. I felt so sorry and guilty for what I'd done to him. For casting him away from. I put my hand on the side of his face and leaned down to kiss him on his forehead. "Emm-"

He shook his head to stop me.

"I will always want you Buzz. I will never throw you away. I'm so sorry I lost control and asked you to leave. I was wrong to do that. This…" My voice hitched and I shook my head as I began to sob against his face. "This is my fault. All of it." Venom completely covered my face as I cried. "I caused this. I caused harm to come to you and my precious girl. I will never forgive myself for this."

He shook his head again causing his face to rub against mine. "Shh…Pops…" His voice was so soft, not the loud boisterous one he usually had. "I love you."

That was all that it took for me to completely fall to pieces. I crawled onto the bed nestled beside him, careful to avoid touching his wounds. We cried together for what seemed like hours. No other words needed to be said right then. All we needed was each other. After a short while, I went into the bathroom to clean my face and warm the water in his basin so I could finish giving him his bath.

"Well now this is going to suck." He whispered, trying to lighten the mood. "I'd rather get that strap."

"Oh, Emmett." I began washing his torso. He was quite soiled so I had to stop and change the water again.

"You know Dad." He said when I walked back into the room. "This would have been easier if you had ordered four of them sexy nurses to come in here and do this." I laughed. "Probably would have speeded up my recovery too."

"Or your demise once Rosie would have gotten a hold of you."

I think I must have cleaned every nook of his upper body because he started complaining. "Pops you are so slow and you're gonna wash my skin off."

"Well if you would bathe every day, you wouldn't need to be washed so thoroughly."

He whimpered when I took care of his wounds. "I like smelling funky. Keeps the man smell on me."

"Whatever you say, Buzz." I went to change the water again so I could start on the rest of his body.

"Everybody can't be as prissy as you Dad."

"Hmm." I looked down at him from my position near the night stand. I squeezed the cloth and applied more soap. "Prissy, eh?"

He seemed to blush a little when I moved to remove his boxers. "It's alright, Emmett. It's just me. I'm your father and I just want to make sure you are alright. There's no need to be embarrassed."

"This bites." He complained and I smiled.

I examined his wounds and was somewhat concerned with the way they were healing. His legs had sustained the most damage and the severity of the wounds was astounding. Those sorry punks had really meant to paralyze him. I remained calm and kept my face to my work so that my son could not intercept my concern for him and start to panic. The more I examined him the more I began to wonder if he would need a reset.

"Emmett, I'm going to try to gently rotate your hips. This will hurt and I'm so sorry but I need to make sure that you are healing properly." He nodded and let out a blood curdling scream when I moved his severely damaged joints. "I'm so sorry, Buzz." I strengthened my resolve through his screams and continued to try to maneuver his joints so that I would not have to do a complete reset of his limbs.

"AAAHHHHHHH. DAAAADDDD!" He shouted. "Oh god. Oh god."

"I know Emmett. I know, son. I'm…" I popped the joint of his left hip back in place and he raised his torso off of the bed when the pain terrorized his body. He screamed louder than he had since he'd been injured. My boys came sailing into the room with the girls in tow, but to protect Emmett's modesty, I waved them off. The girls left but the boys refused to leave their brother. Rosie wanted to stay but I got the feeling that she couldn't stand seeing him in this condition.

I immediately felt a powerful surge of calm come over me and Emmett relaxed as well though he was crying profusely. His two brothers didn't mind his nakedness at all. They could have cared less. All that mattered to them at the moment was being there for their big brother. They loved him and it showed.

"Dad, he's in more pain than you know." Edward told me reading his mind. Careful not to hurt him, he sat at Emmett's head and positioned his brother so that his head was in his lap. "It's alright Em. Shh. It's alright."

Jasper sat on the other side of his brother and caressed his head and the hair out of his face. He was suffering but he gladly took the blow so that he could be there for his brother.

"_I know Edward. God I know, but if I don't do this he will not be able to walk." _I chose to communicate with my youngest son through the portals of my mind because I didn't want to cause Emmett to panic. He nodded his understanding.

"Emmett, your Daddy is so sorry to have to do this." I reassured him as his brothers attempted to calm him down. "I'm done with this leg. I know that hurt you, Em. It will be over soon."

He cried and I took a deep breath and tucked my lips to keep from losing control for everyone's sake, especially Emmett's and Jasper's. I gave him a moment to rebound, but decided that there was not exactly a good time to finish this, so I moved to Edward's side of the bed to work on Emmett's right hip.

I was grateful that my boys were here this time to hold him down because he wailed loudly again and tried to buck against what was happening to him. I heard my wife and daughter comforting Rosalie as I continued my efforts to make sure my son would be able to have full mobility of his limbs again. For the next few minutes I rotated and adjusted his hips, knees and feet so that he would completely heal properly. By the time I was finished, he was done. He'd lost it.

The boys continued to show him love and console him while I finished his bath and put a fresh pair of bandages and pajama pants on him. I decided to forego the shirt and boxers to make it easier to handle him in the future. Once I was finished, Jasper placed him in the center of the king size bed. He was still whimpering from the pain of this horrific ordeal when his brothers pulled the covers over him and sandwiched him between them. What a sight to behold as I watched them completely envelope him. I stood there for a moment watching them and decided it was time for me to shower.

"Emmett."

He was still crying. I walked over to the bed.

"Emmett, how are you feeling?"

He didn't reply but buried his face in Jasper's chest. I looked to Edward for an answer. Normally I would not encourage the head snooping, but I really needed him to help me understand where Emmett's mind was.

He gave me the 'ok' symbol to let me know that his brother was settling down. I nodded.

"Emmett, Daddy loves you and I will be back in shortly. I'm going to take a shower and check on your mother and the girls and I will come back in to check on you."

"God please don't." His words were very muffled against his brother's chest. "Forget my address."

I smiled and welcomed his humor.

Jasper and Edward smiled but kept him close.

"I'll be back." I promised them.

"Take your time." They said. "We got this."

I smiled again and left to go comfort my girls.

A/N: Wow…Emmett's pain…Carlisle has to deal with his own guilt, his son's pain, and the big elephant in the room…how they got there in the first place…Please Review! Thanks and hope to update soon.


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